It looks like the whole "Hot Coffee" ordeal has finally come to a head, at least as far as the Federal Trade Commission, Take-Two Interactive, and Rockstar are concerned. The FTC sent out a press release today detailing a settlement between itself and the two companies behind Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. According to the FTC, both companies violated the FTC Act by "representing that San Andreas had been rated 'Mature' and assigned certain content descriptors by the ESRB, but failing to disclose to consumers that the game discs contained unused, but potentially viewable, nude female images and disabled, but potentially playable, software code for a sexually explicit mini-game that the ESRB had not rated."
As a result of these actions, both Take-Two and Rockstar Games must "clearly and prominently disclose on product packaging and in any promotion or advertisement for electronic games, content relevant to the rating, unless that content had been disclosed sufficiently in prior submissions to the rating authority." The press release goes on to say, "the companies cannot misrepresent the rating or content descriptors for an electronic game. Finally, the companies must establish, implement, and maintain a comprehensive system reasonably designed to ensure that all content in an electronic game is considered and reviewed in preparing submissions to a rating authority." If either company violates this order, they can be penalized up to $11,000 per violation.
Those of you who get a kick out of reading legal documents can take a peek at the entire announcement at the official Federal Trade Commission website.
