Every big rating board on the planet has now stamped Grand Theft Auto VI as an adults only title with South Korea as the last domino to fall. Its Game Content Rating Board handed the game a 19+ classification around October 16, the final major market to clear it, weeks before the game ships on November 19. There is nothing left for a regulator to spring on Rockstar Games this close to launch.
To be fair, none of the ratings have come as a shock. GTA 6 is M for Mature in North America, PEGI 18 across Europe and the UK, USK 18 in Germany, CERO Z in Japan, R18+ in Australia, R18 in New Zealand, 18 in Brazil and 19+ in South Korea, with a 21+ badge on storefronts in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Every single one is in the strictest adult tier its board offers, which is where the most hyped Grand Theft Auto ever was expected to end up anyway.
Where GTA 6 stands with the world's rating boards
Region / board | Rating | What it flags |
|---|---|---|
North America (ESRB) | M, Mature 17+ | Blood and gore, intense violence, strong sexual content, nudity, drugs and alcohol, in-game purchases |
Europe and UK (PEGI) | 18 | Violence, sex, drugs, nudity, in-game purchases |
Germany (USK) | 18 | Drastic violence, drugs, criminal role models, in-game purchases |
Japan (CERO) | Z, 18+ only | Crime, violence |
Australia (Classification Board) | R18+ | High impact violence, sex scenes, drug use |
New Zealand | R18 | Sex scenes, nudity |
South Korea (GCRB) | 19+ | Strong violence, sexual content |
Brazil (ClassInd) | 18 | Sexual content, drugs, improper language, violence, online purchases |
Saudi Arabia and UAE | 21+ | Shown on regional storefront listings |
Every major market has now settled on its strictest adult tier, with South Korea the last to clear.
Even so, the descriptions have generated a ton of interest. The ESRB lists blood and gore, intense violence, strong sexual content, nudity, strong language and use of drugs and alcohol. Australia and New Zealand name "sex scenes" outright and Germany's USK cites drastic violence, drugs and criminal role models. Taken together, they point to the most explicit GTA yet, which lines up with the sex scenes and content flags we covered when the first store ratings went up.
Australia makes it loud and clear this isn't a children's game, which isn't a surprise given that it's also one of the countries hoping to censor video games, among others. The board gave GTA 6 an R18+ on August 27, with consumer advice for high impact violence, sex scenes and drug use, a full step above Grand Theft Auto V, which launched there at MA15+. It also settles an earlier scare. We wrote that a stray X18 listing for the game was almost certainly an error, since that category is reserved for material that cannot ship in a standard game. The official R18+ confirms it.
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Two things are worth noting. Almost every board flags in-game purchases, which is standard, though Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has suggested there is no recurrent spending planned at launch. Also, a board listing "nudity" and "strong sexual content" confirms the categories exist in the game. It does not confirm the specific scenes behind the leaks.
Japan is the one market with an asterisk. CERO Z cleared around October 17 after sitting under review, with crime and violence icons. Past Japanese GTA releases have sometimes shipped with content tweaks. It's unclear if Rockstar will change anything for that region.
So the paperwork is done. The last real variable other than the game itself, whether some board would demand changes or hold things up, is off the table. What is left is age-gating at retail, strict in places like South Korea at 19+ and the Gulf at 21+ and, of course, the wait for November 19.