Rockstar Pays Under $30,000 to Offended Customers In 'Hot Coffee' Lawsuit Settlement

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Just 2,676 people stepped forward to file claims in the "Hot Coffee" class action lawsuit against Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PC, PS2, Xbox) developer Rockstar Games, amounting to a payout of less than $30,000, according to the New York Times.

Per the terms of the settlement, customers offended by the so-called "Hot Coffee" content in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas—essentially amounting to a sex minigame accessible only by altering the game's code—could submit compensatory claims of $5 to $35 each, or a revised edition of the title stripped of the offending code.

GTA publisher and Rockstar parent company Take-Two estimates that the claims will amount to less than $30,000—much less than the $1.3 million in legal fees the company racked up dealing with the lawsuit.

"Am I disappointed? Sure," said lead plaintiff attorney Seth R. Lesser. "We can't guess as to why now, several years later, people care or don't care. The merits of the case were clear."

In addition to the settlement amount and attorney's fees, Take-Two has also agreed to make a $860,000 charitible contribution, bringing the total cost of "Hot Coffee" to roughly $2.19 million—not accounting for costs in reprinting and distributing the revised edition of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

With Rockstar's follow-up Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, 360) raking in over $500 million in its first week alone, however, Rockstar and Take-Two's pockets are likely deep enough to foot the bill.

A slim chance remains that the civil lawsuit could still go to trial—the settlement will go before Judge Shirley Wohl Kram of Manhattan's Federal District Court for final approval next Wednesday.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    June 25, 2008 8:06 PM

    Wow, whoever says they got offended by this is an idiot.
    I can't believe how fucked people are

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