GTA 6 is already banned in one country for “encouraging murder”

Grand Theft Auto 6 is set to launch on November 19, but the game has already been banned in one country for its graphic content.

On June 24, Rockstar revealed new info about pre-order bonuses and the game’s price, with the Ultimate Edition locking in-game stores and other goodies behind its $99 price tag.

The announcements also saw Sony detail how the PS5 will be the “best” console to play GTA 6 on, with the sprawling state of Leonida featuring “near instant” load times.

Unfortunately, fans in one country won’t be able to get their hands on GTA 6. Not because a physical copy won’t contain an actual disc, but because it’s been banned.

Rockstar Games

Has GTA 6 been banned in several countries? Rumors explained

Shortly after pre-orders were announced, rumors spread that the game had been banned in many countries, citing info on Sony’s GTA 6 page about how players can get a free month of GTA+ by pre-ordering the game.

The page states that this will apply to “all PlayStation country stores, excluding Bahrain, China, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Russian Federation, Taiwan.”

However, this only applies to the free GTA+, and GTA 6 isn’t banned in the Gulf just yet.

Meanwhile, Grand Theft Auto had been banned in Thailand since 2008 after a player, supposedly influenced by the game, killed a taxi driver. For GTA 6, a Thai PlayStation store page with pre-order info exists, suggesting the game has been approved.

So far, it seems like the only country to have completely banned GTA 6 is Tajikistan. In 2024, the country banned both GTA and Counter-Strike for ‘inciting crime’ and encouraging “murder, theft and violence.”

Russia took aim at GTA 6 over male strippers

Earlier this year, Mikhail Ivanov, deputy chairman of the World Russian People’s Council called Grand Theft Auto a “dangerous tool of influence.”

Of note, he took issue with one of the game’s leaked inclusions: male strippers.

“The creators of GTA VI deliberately go to include destructive and vulgar content in their product, completely unacceptable to the moral health of society,” he blasted. “This includes the planned inclusion of scenes of male striptease in the game, which is a direct and cynical violation of basic moral norms and traditional spiritual values.”

Rockstar Games

The Russian went on to demand that Rockstar release a sanitized version in the country, but it doesn’t seem like the devs have given in and the title hasn’t been banned.

Although GTA 6 has yet to be officially rated, Sony does note that games in the series typically include “profanities, violence, sexual themes, and depictions of illegal acts.”

GTA 6 is shaping up to be an absolute cultural event when it releases, with some businesses even announcing they’ll be pausing operations because so many employees have booked off to play.