GTA V receives rating in US and Australia

Update: The version submitted for classification in Australia is the "original" (ie uncensored) version. This can be seen in the screenshot below.

Grand Theft Auto V has received it's ESRB content rating in the United States and also been classified in Australia (where gamers have been particularly worried it might even be banned).

As you can see from the image below, GTA 5 has received a "M" ESRB rating with the following notes:

• Intense violence
• Blood and gore
• Nudity
• Mature humor
• Strong language
• Strong sexual content
• Use of drugs and alcohol

If you want to know what the "jump" from Grand Theft Auto IV has been, new or upgraded warnings in GTA V include the following:

• Blood and gore (GTA IV: Blood)
• Nudity (GTA IV: Partial nudity)
• Mature humor (New)

In other ratings news, GTA V has been officially classified as "R18" by the Classification Board of Australia. This seems to be primarily for the drug use depicted in the game. It is also not clear whether Rockstar Games submitted a censored version of the game to the ACB for review. We suspect this will be clarified shortly. Hopefully not!

In any event, lots of Aussie gamers will be very pleased to know that GTA 5 has at least not been banned there. For context, Saint's Row IV has now been refused classification twice (ie it cannot be sold/is banned until it receives classification). Apparently the "drug use related to incentives and rewards" is not permitted in Australia.