Skip to main content

How Rockstar betrayed its fans in 'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' modding scandal

How Rockstar betrayed its fans in 'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' modding scandal

Share this story

Coffee FLICKR
Coffee FLICKR

Eurogamer has taken a look back at the notorious "Hot Coffee" scandal surrounding the launch of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and explores what the media fiasco means for sex in video games today. Developers originally included explicit sex scenes as a joke and a way to "push the content envelope," however the scenes were locked — but not removed — before launch due to concerns about the game's ESRB rating. Software engineer and GTA modder Patrick Wildenborg unlocked and released the explicit content in a mod called "Hot Coffee," kicking off a massive scandal involving court cases, legislation, and media attention. To read more on how Rockstar threw their most dedicated fanbase under the bus, check out the full article at the source link below.