Rockstar Games removes apparent controversial content from GTA V's next-gen release

Rockstar Games has appears to have discreetly removed some features from the GTA 5 PS5 and Xbox Series X editions. The content in question contains multiple controversial jokes and tropes that LGBTQ+ organizations have criticized in the past.

Outmaking Games, for example, wrote an open letter to Rockstar Games last year, requesting that the developers address tr*nsph*bic components of GTA 5 that have persisted since the game's first release in 2013.

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What kind of content has been removed from GTA 5 next gen ?

The extent to which Rockstar Games has implemented the aforementioned changes is yet unknown, but so far, several NPCs have been removed from spawning outside of specific in-game locales. This includes the "Drag Queen" model, who would normally spawn outside Cockatoos, an in-game club.

While the models are still present in the game's Director Mode, the characters' spoken lines have been removed, as pointed out by famous Rockstar Games community member Kirsty Cloud on Twitter.

The removals were originally noted by JayProspero on Reddit, who noticed that the game's Captain Spaceboy action figure, which can be found on the wall in an in-game arcade, no longer has certain controversial words inscribed on its box.

A Redditor found some interesting changes (Images via Twitter/Kristy Cloud)

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What could have caused this removal ?

Rockstar Games has finally listened to Out Making Games (Images via Twitter/OutMakingGames)

Rockstar has still not commented on the reported removals. However, the move comes months after Outmaking Games, who called such content “tr*nspho*bic” in a letter published in September.

Out Making Games describes themselves as a:

“Community of hundreds of LGBTQ+ games professionals working in the UK games sector."

The organization referenced coverage by Carolyn Petit of Kotaku, who highlighted issues with trans representation in the original 2013 release.

This isn't the first time these games have had content removed. In Grand Theft Auto V, the C*nfederate flag was removed from certain locations, and in the remastered GTA Trilogy, it was removed from a character's shirt.

After modders unlocked an otherwise inaccessible "Hot Coffee" mini-game included on the disc, Rockstar had to release a new version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, resulting in an ESRB rating adjustment.