What is GTA 5's Age Rating?

The GTA franchise is no stranger to controversy, ever since the early days of GTA III. The game's release coincided with the unfortunate terror attacks in New York in 2001, and some elements were then considered as being in poor taste. Thus, Rockstar had to make several changes to the game before release.

The GTA franchise would court a lot of controversies over the years with regards to its content and became the symbol of decadence for the media and the game's numerous critics.

The games were called into question several times and even blamed for several violent incidents in the United States. However, Rockstar Games has stuck to their guns with the GTA games and believe them to be an artistic expression to reflect the flawed nature of modern media and pop culture.

What is GTA 5's Age Rating?

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) are a self-regulatory organization that applies and enforces ratings, advertising guidelines, and online privacy principles for computer and video games.

The ESRB rating for GTA V, the last entry in the GTA franchise was Mature 17+, which is equivalent to an R Rating in movies. Most games in the franchise are rated M for Mature, except for GTA San Andreas, which was slapped with an Adults Only rating for the inclusion of the "Hot Cofee" mod.

GTA V's rating was called into question many times as a lot of people felt that the rating was too tame for a game as graphic as GTA V.

Several of the game's moments were highlighted, especially the torture sequence in which the player, as Trevor, must torture an innocent man for seemingly no purpose.

Unlike Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2's infamous 'No Russian' level, players were not given a warning to the sensitive nature of that sequence. Players can, however, choose to skip the level entirely.