Graphic Violence Can Be 'Art' Says 'Grand Theft Auto' Publisher

It's graphic. It's gritty and dark. And especially violent. With its move to current-gen consoles, the game now lets you do things from the first-person perspective. Including realistic sex scenes with prostitutes. Whom you later kill.

Forbes calls it "more horrible than ever."

But to Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of the game's publisher, Take-Two Interactive, the violence and grit in the game is "art."

"This is a criminal setting," he said on Bloomberg TV. "It's a gritty underworld. It is art. And I've embraced that art."

He then explained that it's no different from movies or television, which can also be gritty and violent. "We stand shoulder to shoulder with other major motion picture releases, major television shows that explore a similar universe," he said. "So yeah, this is a tough universe because it's a criminal universe."

He also said that there's tons of other stuff to do in the game, with "hundreds of hours of gameplay."

The "Grand Theft Auto" series has been widely criticized for not just being extremely violent, but particularly violent against women, who are unplayable characters. (You can play as a female character online, however. Although that doesn't seem to be much better.)

Watch the whole video on Bloomberg TV below: