GTA 6 is for adults in every country that has rated it so far. On October 1 the ESRB, which rates games in the US and Canada, gave it M for Mature 17+, and Rockstar replaced the Rating Pending badge on its site with the M logo. Europe has it at PEGI 18, Australia at R18+.
ESRB: M for Mature 17+
The ESRB page lists seven content descriptors, exactly the same list GTA 5 got in 2013:
- Blood and Gore
- Intense Violence
- Mature Humor
- Nudity
- Strong Language
- Strong Sexual Content
- Use of Drugs and Alcohol
For GTA 5 the ESRB also published a long summary that described the torture scene, the strip club and the drug use. The GTA 6 page has only the short version for now, without examples. The PlayStation Store and the Xbox Store show the same M rating.
There is no Users Interact notice, which the ESRB adds when players can talk to each other or share content. That fits a game Rockstar calls single-player, and the PlayStation Store lists it as offline play only, for one player.
What In-Game Purchases means
The only interactive element on the ESRB page is In-Game Purchases. On the face of it that clashes with what Rob Nelson of Rockstar North said in August: the single-player game has no monetization.
The ESRB uses this label for any paid digital extra offered in a game, upgrades included. The PlayStation Store already sells a Grand Theft Auto VI: Ultimate Edition Upgrade, and the game’s listing calls in-game purchases optional. Loot boxes get a separate label, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items), and GTA 6 doesn’t have it. What exactly will be for sale, Rockstar hasn’t said.
PEGI 18 and the description that disappeared
In the UK PlayStation Store the game is PEGI 18, for drugs, sexual content, extreme violence and nudity, with in-game purchases. On October 2 PEGI posted its own page with a longer description and removed it the same day. IGN quoted the text before it went and asked PEGI for comment. As of October 5 the game isn’t in PEGI’s database.
According to that text, violence is bloody and realistic, and some weapons can decapitate and dismember. Drug use is frequent: you can take drugs with other characters or straight from your inventory, and cocaine at any moment. The description also mentions nudity, sex scenes, private dances in night clubs, harm to pets shown in less detail than harm to people, and discriminatory language on TV and radio.
Australia, Germany and Japan
The Australian classification shows in the local PlayStation Store: R18+, for drug use, high impact violence and sex scenes. Vice points out that GTA 5’s listing said “sex” rather than “sex scenes”, and that the new wording may reflect current classification language rather than more explicit content.
Germany’s USK and Japan’s CERO haven’t rated the game yet. On October 5 the German store says USK Rating Pending, and the Japanese one CERO Under Review.
