GTA 6 PEGI Rating Pulled After Revealing Mature Content Details

A PEGI 18 rating for Grand Theft Auto 6 appeared on the European ratings board’s website last Friday before being pulled, giving players an early and detailed look at the mature content Rockstar Games has packed into its long-awaited open-world title, scheduled to release on November 19.

What the Rating Described

According to Video Games Chronicle, the now-removed PEGI listing described violence as “bloody with a high degree of realism,” with specific weapons capable of causing “detailed decapitation and dismemberment.” Drug use is labeled “frequent and prominent” in the document, with players reportedly able to carry cocaine in their inventory and snort it directly from their hand at any point during gameplay. The rating also noted that players can consume illegal drugs alongside other in-game characters.

On the sexual content side, the rating referenced nudity, scenes of intercourse, and what it called “occasional scenes of sexual fetishes.” Strip club mechanics returned as well, with PEGI noting that players can pay for private dances and physically interact with performers during those scenes.

Animals, Gore, and Additional Notes

The pulled rating also confirmed the presence of domestic animals in GTA 6, and stated that players can harm them, though the game does not render the same level of injury detail for animals as it does for human characters. The combination of these content descriptors placed the title firmly in PEGI’s top age bracket.

As Video Games Chronicle notes, the PEGI listing arrived just days after GTA 6 received its official ESRB rating of M for Mature in North America, aligning both major rating bodies on the game’s intended adult audience.

Context: Hot Coffee and Past Controversies

The level of sexual content described in the rating draws an obvious comparison to the “Hot Coffee” scandal that followed GTA San Andreas in 2004, when a hidden sex mini-game was discovered in the game’s code and triggered a Federal Trade Commission warning and significant legal consequences for Rockstar. A former Rockstar developer, speaking ahead of the game’s extended reveal on Netflix, said the current situation is far less serious, stating that the earlier Hot Coffee incident “was a nightmare for management” and that present-day leaks are “far less consequential” by comparison. The developer also predicted GTA 6 would “sell for the next 15 years or so.”

Sources: Video Games Chronicle