The New 'Grand Theft Auto' Lets You Have Realistic Sex With Prostitutes
But eyebrows are already being raised over one part of the new game: First-person sex with prostitutes.
Needless to say, this will be controversial, and the company has likely deliberately created this aspect of the game in part because it knows it will generate headlines.
Prostitutes have controversially existed in Grand Theft Auto games for years, but in the past, players have had their view of sex acts obscured by car doors. Now, it all takes place in full view of the player, who can move the camera around to get a better view.
Players drive past prostitutes, honking their horn to encourage them to enter their vehicle. Then, after driving to a secluded spot, they select from a menu of sex acts before watching what happens. Of course, this being a video game, some players choose to kill the prostitute after the encounter to get back some of their money.
Here's a screenshot posted by a player who killed the prostitute with a hatchet to get their money back:
The Grand Theft Auto series was engulfed in controversy in 2005 when it was discovered that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas had a feature hidden on the disc that allowed players to play a sex minigame named "Hot Coffee" that saw the main character have sex with women. Although Rockstar Games had disabled the feature, essentially removing it from the game, players figured out that it took just a simple modification to add it back in. The game was pulled from some retailers, and later re-released as an adult game with a new age rating.
When Grand Theft Auto V was first released in 2013, players were amused to find that they could listen in to other people talking to the game's virtual strippers. The women have a virtual "Like" bar that could be increased by touching them or using a real-world microphone to speak to them. However, players didn't realise that everything they said to strippers was broadcast to nearby players, resulting in some embarrassment.
A 2013 Guardian comment article argued that the Grand Theft Auto series demans women by reducing them to unplayable characters. It's important to note, however, that the most recent game allows you to play as a woman in its online mode.