GTA 6 age rating teases return of controversial minigame as newest entry usurps GTA 5

Grand Theft Auto VI has had its age rating confirmed and while it’s perhaps what you’d expect, the rating does reveal a key difference to GTA V.

The game has been revealed to have an M for Mature ESRB rating in the United States, a PEGI 18 rating in Europe, and an X 18+ rating in Australia.

Interestingly, GTA V secured an R 18+ rating in Australia, which is one step below an X 18+.

Both titles advertise that they feature drug use, violence, and offensive language.

GTA V lists “sexual material”, whereas GTA VI features both “nudity” and “sex scenes”, and it’s here that gamers think GTA VI may expand upon what its predecessor offered.

That shouldn’t really come as a surprise. Grand Theft Auto has always pushed the limits of controversy, but GTA V wasn’t exactly full of sex outside of Trevor’s brief dalliance with Johnny Klebitz’s girlfriend.

You can pick up partners but what follows isn’t scripted, nor does it play out in a choreographed, detailed cutscene.

Considering the fact that GTA VI is built around dual leads Jason and Lucia, who are in a romantic relationship that the player is tasked with maintaining, it’s perhaps logical then that the game is going to be a tad more sex- and romance-heavy.

Rockstar Games

And seeing that play out in more overt cutscenes is perhaps to be expected. It’s quite common in modern AAA gaming.

Cyberpunk 2077, The Blood of Dawnwalker, The Last of Us Part II … plenty of games have respected the maturity of their audience with their sexual content.

Plus, on the “nudity” front, CYBERLEEK’s work already revealed to us the presence of a nudist beach within the game’s open world.

Some have pointed out that Cyberpunk 2077, despite its pretty detailed sex scenes, still only holds the R 18+ rating compared to GTA VI’s X 18+.

There could be any number of things pushing GTA VI’s rating up, though … it could be more due to more overt depictions, or it could just be an increased use of all the other things that make the game what it is - violence, drug use, and so on.

Certainly, Cyberpunk 2077 is set within a lawless world too, but few franchises are more lawless than Grand Theft Auto.

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The return of Hot Coffee has been touted as a potential reason behind the game’s rating

All this talk though, does have fans worrying that the franchise’s most controversial minigame may make a return, the unofficially dubbed ‘Hot Coffee’.

Hot Coffee was found in the files of GTA: San Andreas, although it was disabled in the release version. It was modders who located the files and enabled them, making this cut content playable in-game.

The minigame basically saw CJ having intercourse with his girlfriend, with the player very rudimentarily controlling the rhythm and position.

Hot Coffee was seemingly cut to avoid pushing GTA’s rating too far.

“Does this mean that Rockstar’s bringing back Hot Coffee?” asked one Reddit user following GTA VI’s recent age rating reveal.

“Hot Coffee confirmed,” replied another.

I’m going to say that I don’t think Hot Coffee is making a return. Yes, the franchise likes to dabble with crossing the line of morally acceptable, but Hot Coffee just doesn’t feel like it belongs in 2026.

Do I think Jason and Lucia’s relationship will add plenty of spice to the gameplay though? All signs definitely indicate so.