GTA 6 Nearly Refused Rating In South Korea Over 'Out-Of-Context Genital Nudity'

GTA 6 came close to being refused a rating in South Korea due to the video game's "out-of-context genital nudity". Game Content Rating Board (GCRB), the Korean ratings board, received Rockstar's application on September 1, and the initial vote, held on September 10, ended in a tie. Three members voted to refuse classification, while three favoured an Adults Only rating.

As per the minutes of the meeting from the voting sessions accessed by InevenGlobal, the resulting tie forced the board to postpone the final decision while awaiting a playable build of the game. Due to security concerns, the playable build was not delivered until September 28.

The second review took place on October 2, when the decision was deferred yet again as the members were unable to sufficiently examine the vast gameplay. Finally, the breakthrough came in the October 16 meeting, when the rating was finalised with eight votes for the Adults Only tag and one vote for Refusal.

The content descriptors were assigned as Sensuality, Violence, Crime, Drugs, and Language. The report detailed that Sensuality was the major bone of contention for the board members who took issue with the "frequent background appearance of male genital nudity without any sexual context".

A rating refusal would have effectively blocked the game's domestic release. However, the board felt pressure of being the only country to ban the biggest entertainment product of the year.

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GTA 6 Release

GTA 6 arrives more than 13 years after GTA V, the second-best-selling video game of all time. According to the trailers released so far, Lucia Caminos and Jason Duval will be the primary characters of GTA VI, inspired by the notorious American criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow.

Pre-downloading went live on November 10 for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S players who have pre-ordered the game. Users need at least 210 GB of free space on their console to download the game, which will be available to play at 12 midnight local time on November 19.