TAKE-TWO TO REMOVE OBJECTIONABLE DIALOG FROM GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICE CITY
Responding to weeks of protest from the Haitian community, Take-Two Interactive said it will remove dialog in its hit videogame Grand Theft Auto: Vice City that had been denounced as offensive. The publisher and its Rockstar Games division that created the violent Grand Theft series apologized “to the Haitian people and government of Haiti for any offense that may have been caused by statements made in the videogame.” But the Brooklyn- based Haitian Centers Council (HCC) said Take-Two’s steps didn’t go far enough and it still was planning to protest outside the publisher’s Manhattan hq 10 a.m. Mon.
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The Haitian-American community has been up in arms about dialog in the game that instructs players to “kill the Haitians,” depicted as criminals (CED Nov 10 p7). At one point, a character refers to the group as “a stinking nest of Haitians.” Although the game was released more than a year ago (Oct. 2002), the depiction of Haitians wasn’t widely publicized until last month, when CBS 2 News, N.Y., aired the Haitians’ complaints and inducted Rockstar and its pres., Sam Houser, into the station’s “Hall of Shame.”
Afterward, Haitians activists and politicians including N.Y. City Council members mounted a protest rally at City Hall. Demonstrators advocated a boycott of the game, and a bill was proposed to help keep the M-rated game out of the hands of children. N.Y. Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) told a Haitian church service last week an investigation had been started to determine whether the game violated the city’s human rights law. Haitian groups and politicians in Boston, Miami and elsewhere also have protested the game. Rep. Deutsch (D-Fla.) took to the floor Mon., the last day of the House session, to denounce the game (CED Dec 10 p10).
Until Tues., Take-Two had said only that it hadn’t intended to offend any ethnic group and “we empathize and are giving serious consideration to” the concerns raised by Haitians (CED Dec 3 p6). But it added “some statements made by fictional characters in [the game] have been taken out of context.” In its statement Tues., Take-Two reiterated that, saying “recent media coverage has also “blown it out of proportion by mischaracterizing the nature of the game play, as well as the actual portrayal of persons and groups in the game.” It said the game was “not intended for sale to under-17 audiences.” As for concerns about the game inspiring young players to attack Haitians, Take-Two said: “Contrary to what some may believe, it must be recognized that videogames have evolved as an adult medium, not unlike literature, movies and music. The fact that the game is popular does not mean that it will encourage players to act out hatred or violence against any group or persons in the ‘real world.’ Certainly, this is not our intent, nor is it the effect of the game.”
Take-Two said: “As with literature, movies, music and other forms of entertainment, we have strived to create a videogame experience with a certain degree of realism, which we believe is our right. Nevertheless, we are aware of the hurt and anger in the Haitian community and have listened to the community’s objections to certain statements made in the game. Accordingly, we will remove the objectionable statements from future copies of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.”
But a spokesman for HCC said Wed. that Take-Two wasn’t doing enough. For one thing, he said, it was unclear when the changes would be made or when the new version would be available. HCC Exec. Dir. Henry Frank said he wanted every copy of the game to be removed from store shelves. He told CBS 2: “Christmas is coming soon. They have stocked so many [copies of the game in stores] to poison the mind of young people and other people.” However, a Take-Two spokesman said Wed. “the game will not be recalled.”
Responding to Take-Two’s statement Tues., a spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg said the city’s investigation -- only in its “early stages” -- was being suspended because the publisher “took the appropriate action to deal with the issue.” But he said the city’s human rights commissioner was “monitoring the situation” and would “make whatever recommendation she deems appropriate” for the city.
Unclear was how much impact the controversy would have on Take-Two. An RBC Capital Markets analyst said: “My presumption is that the cost of changing the dialog in future copies of the game will be modest so there shouldn’t be any noticeable financial impact on [Take-Two]. And although the bad PR may be regrettable, it seems that the company’s quick response should minimize any prospect of a negative impact on the stock.” The publisher didn’t say how much financial impact making changes in the game would have. But Take-Two may address the issue Dec. 18, when it reports 4th-quarter and fiscal year results.