“Genital exposure has never appeared so frequently”: GTA 6 was almost denied release in South Korea

GTA 6 was reportedly on the verge of being denied classification in South Korea just a few months ago. The reason? Too many penises.

According to Inven’s findings, the country’s rating board – the GCRB – was completely divided in its initial classification vote. Three committee members voted for an “Adults Only” rating, and three others voted for Rockstar’s game to be rejected outright.

The report claims that the “frequent background appearance of male genital nudity without any sexual context” was the main sticking point.

In other words, there are many instances in GTA 6 where male genitals are on full display – even when there is no sexual context associated with it. The ratings board deemed this “excessive” compared to other games in which genitals may appear.

“It’s not that genital exposure is completely prohibited, but it has never appeared so frequently without context,” read one of the commission member’s statements.

He continues: “I do not believe that such genital exposure is within acceptable limits according to the current (assessment) standard.”

The opposition’s argument, however, attempts to contextualize the equation: “In this game, the scenes with high exposure are not particularly sexual. Conversely, in the scenes of a sexual nature, the exposure is limited. The content must be judged globally.”

In the end, after multiple postponements and even some regulatory adjustments, a second vote took place and GTA 6 obtained the “Adults Only” rating. This time around, only one member voted to reject, and eight pushed for Adults Only – so the argument for the latter was clearly quite compelling.

Apparently, the fear of simply missing out on GTA 6 also factored into the decision. There was unwanted “pressure” from being the only country to potentially ban the sale of the game.

Adding some spice to this story, Korean media outlet Gameple is now reporting that South Korea could be the only country in East Asia where GTA 6 is available. not censored in one form or another.

There is evidence to suggest that the Japanese version will be “modified” in order to meet the region’s often strict classification regulations.

Meanwhile, in mainland China, it seems likely that GTA 6 will not be eligible for government approval, due to the criminal, violent and sexual nature of its content.

What do you think of all this? How would you feel if a game like GTA 6 was effectively banned from sale in your country? Keep your pants down in the comments section below.