Kefkataran
06-08-2006, 08:51 AM
It seems that the Federal Trade Commision has finally reached a settlement with Take Two Interactive and Rockstar Games in their case involving the "Hot Coffee" scandal with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Next Generation (http://www.next-gen.biz) has the full story (http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3182&Itemid=2):
The FTC and the two companies have reached a settlement agreement, which requires Take Two and Rockstar to "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."
The companies are also required to "clearly disclose" any content relative to the ESRB rating on all packaging, and they are restricted from misinterpreting games' ratings or content descriptors--demands that are surely expected from all publishers.
While no fines were dealt out this time around, if the companies violate the aforementioned guidelines of the settlement after the terms are finalized, Rockstar and Take Two would be "subject to civil penalties of up to $11,000 per violation if they violate the order."
At the very least, they doged a bullet with no fines being issues yet, especially considering the huge amount of money they lost on pulling and reissuing San Andreas. It also looks like Take Two will be releasing fiscal results for Q2 this afternoon. That could end up being bad news.
The FTC and the two companies have reached a settlement agreement, which requires Take Two and Rockstar to "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."
The companies are also required to "clearly disclose" any content relative to the ESRB rating on all packaging, and they are restricted from misinterpreting games' ratings or content descriptors--demands that are surely expected from all publishers.
While no fines were dealt out this time around, if the companies violate the aforementioned guidelines of the settlement after the terms are finalized, Rockstar and Take Two would be "subject to civil penalties of up to $11,000 per violation if they violate the order."
At the very least, they doged a bullet with no fines being issues yet, especially considering the huge amount of money they lost on pulling and reissuing San Andreas. It also looks like Take Two will be releasing fiscal results for Q2 this afternoon. That could end up being bad news.