Cover-Credits:
Over the last few decades since their establishment, Rockstar Games has been no stranger to any controversy. There are several moments in history where the company has been sued, criticized, and dealt with lawsuit after lawsuit for their games. The nature of GTA games has violence, gore, and a lot of sexual innuendos built into it, which certainly triggers non-gamers and people who are not aware that the game acts as a satire of the real world. Let's take a look at some of the most controversial moments that GTA games have been through.
Controversial GTA Moments
Picking up Sex Workers in Grand Theft Auto 3
Grand Theft Auto 3 was the first game in the series to feature a very dynamic 3D world. It introduced several possibilities that Rockstar could experiment with. Due to the game’s gritty nature, the game also allowed players to pick up sex workers in their cars. The car would bounce around and by the end of it, players would notice that their health had gone up and some money had been taken. This sparked a lot of controversy among parents and the news heavily criticized Rockstar for adding such a feature. The game also received the “Most Offensive Game of the Year” title in the year 2001. This was soon followed by an array of games inspired by GTA 3
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City featuring Cuban-Haitian Gang War
In GTA: Vice City players take on the role of Tommy Vercetti. As you progress through the game, you will befriend Juan Cortez who is a leader for the Cubans in the game. In the following missions for Cortez, you will be tasked with protecting and managing a cocaine deal with Ricardo Diaz, who is a drug baron. The deal gets ambushed by Haitians and your objective is to kill them and get the suitcase back. This led to the Cuban-American and Haitian-American organizations publicly criticizing Rockstar for its depiction of hate between the Cubans and Haitians and asked them to modify the game, to which they complied.
Hot Coffee Mod in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
The Hot Coffee Mod in San Andreas stands out on top as it sparked the most controversy that Rockstar has ever gone through. It was basically a very lewd minigame that occurs when one of CJ’s girlfriends invites him over for a cup of coffee, hence the name. This idea was scrapped by Rockstar but the data still existed in the earlier versions of the game. It was brought out by modders from the 2005 PC port of the game. What soon followed was a class action lawsuit against Rockstar which was settled in 2007 after a massive 2,676 claims were filed.
The Torture Scene from Grand Theft Auto 5
In GTA 5 which is still the series’s new installment, We play as Trevor Philips and we are forced to extract information from Mr.K who is an Azerbaijani fugitive posing a threat to the FBI. The game offers you a variety of torture methods to execute which was really the surprising part.
Many people missed the mark and failed to understand that the scene existed in the game to make a statement against such violence. It was intended to make you feel uncomfortable while playing through it.
Before the scene begins Trevor says the following
"The media and the government would have us believe that torture is some necessary thing. We need it to get information, to assert ourselves,"
"Did we get any information out of you?"
