Lukewarm response to Hot Coffee settlement

The New York Times reports that less than 2,700 US residents have collected under $30,000 following class action over hit game.

In November, Take-Two Interactive reached a settlement with disgruntled purchasers of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas over a class action suit stemming from the the hidden "Hot Coffee" sex minigame. The suit brought threatened to have the publisher pay out as much as $2.75 million for the game, which has generated over $370 million in revenue by selling above over 9.1 million copies in the US, according to the NPD Group.

Those who were offended by the game and pledged that they wouldn't have purchased San Andreas had they known about the Hot Coffee content could snag between $5 and $35 from Take-Two in restitution. Despite the mainstream media furor and political posturing that arose in the wake of the minigame's discovery, only 2,676 filed claims in the Take-Two class action settlement, according to The New York Times. Those claims totaled less than $30,000, meaning Take-Two will make up the rest of the $1 million minimum it pledged to spend as part of the settlement by other means, including an $860,000 charitable contribution.

By contrast, the lawyers whose suit brought about the settlement are seeking $1.3 million in legal fees. With the settlement still awaiting judicial approval, another lawyer unrelated to the case is seeking to have it denied. According to the paper, Theodore H. Frank, director of the Legal Center for the Public Interest at the American Enterprise Institute, believes the lawyers who brought the case are either "selling out" their clients to get their own payday, or brought a suit that had no merit to begin with.

194 Comments

  • chinakat

    Posted Sep 1, 2009 3:52 pm PT

    They didn't have to get the hot coffee mod. It required an action replay, and one hell of a lot of codes. If you're offended, dont punch in the codes.

  • Durb118

    Posted Aug 18, 2008 11:11 pm PT

    Parents who cant be bothered to take an interest in their kids gaming habits are now oh so shock horror offended! Serves em right! Lets get little Johnny a 6 pack, a porn movie, and a $250 casino tab! Nah, but why with games?

  • bloodlust555666

    Posted Jul 1, 2008 12:04 pm PT

    Pft you really think this would have been such a huge issue were all the players actually 17 years of age and older?

  • fkholmes

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 3:35 pm PT

    Lol, they don't even deserve a dollar.

  • MoonMarvel

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 4:18 am PT

    As long as the stories keep getting peoples attention. Ignore it and so will they.

  • megamanzero32

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 3:00 am PT

    How long are they going to keep talking about this!?

  • JReefer1

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 12:21 am PT

    Under 30,000,lol. So they could have received a dollar.

  • simonromano2007

    Posted Jun 28, 2008 9:07 pm PT

    why do people always find wrong stuff in video games i mean R rated movies have even worst stuff and i dont hear about a giant law suit

  • acsam12304

    Posted Jun 28, 2008 6:25 pm PT

    We should sue those people, on the behalf of Take-Tow. Because they HACKED A GAME PROGRAM THAT. YOU GET IN TROUBLE FOR HACKING INTO ANYTHING THAT YOU DONT HAVE PERMISSION TO DO.

  • eldertaco

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 6:37 pm PT

    An "m" rated game!!!!!!!! Do you freek out if you buy an R rated movie and there is somthing inappropriate!?!

  • combatsoldier

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 5:27 pm PT

    This is so ridiculous. Come on already. Its just another way to stab the gaming industry. Alright already enough is enough. This is an adult video game and if you dont like it then dont play it. I bet half of these people didnt even know about it until they read it on the news. This is utterly and completely ridiculous.

  • Neloy

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 11:29 am PT

    Hmm!! How about donating the rest 860000 dollars to any charitable organization? Well thats a meaningful thing to do rather than spending those on morons. Take Two will be blessed by millions.

  • necronaux

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 9:51 am PT

    No one should be making money off of any of these law suits. It's just a game. You don't like it, don't play. Why are the courts even alowing these cases? Here's how we fix this... get rid of all they lawyers!!!

  • DragFire24

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 3:38 am PT

    Those 2700 ppl are really fu**ers!! The Hot Coffee thing was only viewable using a patch and if they have applied the patch they knew what they where going for... They just did worse than downloading copies of the game, they actually stole money from T2.

    "Those who were offended by the game..." described as they were poor innocent people?!?! :/ wtf T2 here did give money for free... No offense to US people but your laws su**s.

  • Razzi65

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 3:29 am PT

    oxytocin :
    lolzzz.. wht a lovely pic.. nice work done dear..

  • MoonMarvel

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 3:18 am PT

    Ever thought that they did put it in there and the patch just found what T2 had hidden in the game? Ever thought of that? If they didn't put it in there explain why they were found liable in a court of law over something they didn't do. Explain that! If that was the case why not challenge it?

    As for the console edition, it wasn't in there. It was the PC version that had it. I am done here, I have proved my point.

  • Darth_Tyrranus

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 10:53 pm PT

    MoonMarvel, if that was really the case, then please explain to me why Take Two lost the lawsuit.

  • acsam12304

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 6:48 pm PT

    Come on if they said GTA: Vice City and part 3 was bad , and had sex in them and you can kill hokkers in boths game ans all. what made them thik GTA:SA will be a Barney game?

  • racerx737

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 6:26 pm PT

    maybe after people realized how little they would actually get they didnt feel like it was worth the effort to fill out the paperwork to get the small amount of money. people are too sue-happy nowadays, they should really get over themselves.

  • oxytocin

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 6:19 pm PT

    For GOD'S SAKE stop it with all the title puns.

  • Jedo

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 5:24 pm PT

    lol, no one cared enough? Of course only a minority gives a ^&$*. Although I must say that "less than 2,700" is quite a lot, nonetheless. That means that all those people had to get of their chairs and actually spend time filling the necessary papers right?

  • tenorio_rotc

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 4:50 pm PT

    I think the response showed no one gave a crap about hot coffee. people that bought the game and said they would not have bought it had the game for 4 years and saw some money coming their way easy.

  • MoonMarvel

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 4:45 pm PT

    ps3thabest it didn't say anything on mine...Of course I don't care, I never look at ratings or much less care what they are. I am a gamer so I just play the games, ratings are meaningless. How many people without kids even pay any attention to them? I never did and never will.

    DendromutantX tell that to countries like germany and australia..After playing Halo I put on green armor and killed 145 people! Video Game violence is a menace to society

  • StillWingless

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 3:55 pm PT

    I have a sneaking suspicion that most of the people who took advantage of that massive $10 payout had never bought the game.

  • DendromutantX

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 3:48 pm PT

    Clearly, Hot Coffee mod was a menace to society. I for one had sex over twenty times since playing it. I demand a monetary compensation for my warped little mind.

  • mongareric

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 3:43 pm PT

    I'm gonna sue Sega because I tried to run through a loop once after I put on some red shoes and grabbed a few rings from my mom's jewelry box and now my neck is broken and I'm a quadriplegic that can still type.

  • ps3thabest

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 2:44 pm PT

    AnthonyZ posted
    *laughs*

    I'd like to see TTI counter sue the 2676 morons for wasting their time. I don't recall anyone *forcing* them to buy a mature game

    i agree its all over nothing its says it on the back of the case about nudity

  • MoonMarvel

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 2:05 pm PT

    Darth_Tyrranus you are wrong, T2 has to report everythin in game, hidden or not in their ESRB rating. If it's in the game you have to report it, there is a way around that and it's if Take 2 didn't put the scene in there. If Take 2 didn't put that in there and a third party did after the game was released, then no they wouldn't responsible for the content, the third party would. And I don't think hot coffee was in the console edition.....Sadly.

  • MoonMarvel

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 1:58 pm PT

    Autolycus some stores don't sell M rated games. Its true.

  • wiiplay1

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 1:21 pm PT

    Oh, and who are the lawyers defending? Probably not a client or even themselves. Just their paycheck.

  • wiiplay1

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 1:18 pm PT

    This was over 3 years ago. Come on. Forget about it now. They are paying up to the less than 3,000 who cared and the rest of the million dollars. These lawyers must have seen this and thought, "Free money!" Well I feel sorry for them, the fact that they need a quick way to earn money appearently.

  • Projekt_Zeer-O

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 12:29 pm PT

    Uh, and this is how old? People are so stupid these days.

  • BigSmitts07

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 12:26 pm PT

    lol lawyers jobs are to bring people even with suits with no merti, and make them look like they have merit..its why id never want to be a lawyer, there meant to defend the innocent and the guilty

  • AnthonyZ

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 12:25 pm PT

    *laughs*

    I'd like to see TTI counter sue the 2676 morons for wasting their time. I don't recall anyone *forcing* them to buy a mature game.

  • Kravyn81

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 11:52 am PT

    Brendan Sinclair wrote:
    "...believes the lawyers who brought the case are either "selling out" their clients to get their own payday, or brought a suit that had no merit to begin with."


    Uh, ya think? I'll take "Suit That Had No Merit" for $1000, Alex

  • siiixon

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 11:48 am PT

    its rare that i'm positively surprised by my fellow humans, but this is one of those days ! ONLY 2600 scumbags out of 9.1million customers that's an awesome %. as for the layers, we all know all layers are scumbags, must be a requirement listed on they resume ; )
    -------------------
    no P08C you think someone files for the refund and sign the waiver that he will destroy the game, would have any moral issues with still selling the copy with a friends account on ebay ? common now lets be realistic here : )

  • Chaos_Eagle

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 11:20 am PT

    Well, it's an 18 rated game, what more info do you need? Doesn't Hot Coffee's content fall under that age rating?

  • P08C

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 11:14 am PT

    the reason people aren't claiming it is because they know that their copy of San Andreas is worth way more than $5-$35 and could probably get twice that on ebay. They also aren't claiming their money because many of them really don't care. They knew the game was explicit to start with. The only people who really care and who were truly "offended" was Hilary Clinton and the Lawyers who made top dollar off of the suit.

  • Darth_Tyrranus

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 11:02 am PT

    plutoknight, it matters not whether the material is supposed to be accessible or not, the fact is it is still on the game disc, and can usually be easily removed. Game companies should know that all material in their games is subject to hacking. Furthermore, since this case has already been settled, your opinion regarding Take Two's innocence no longer matters.

  • lil_luz_10

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 10:36 am PT

    LOL scoring with your gf after a date was one of the funniest things I've ever done. Haha my brother and me laughed so hard...but we didn't come back for sloppy seconds lol. Lol and way to spend thousands of dollars just to receive $35...haha. San Andreas is still my favorite GTA. But they are all ready good and hella fun to play.

    Funny thing is I don't recall the whole nude thing actually being required, I remember it being a side mission. So saying everyone is being cheated or being introduced to something kids shouldn't see is really a joke and not true. I love how the videogame-nazis, as I call them, epic failed at videogame violence now they're trying videogame love haha. Great, you'd have kids who would blame GTA or Halo for wanting to go postal or go rob a bank...Whats next..."My child is a sex addict now because of GTA!!!"

  • Get_Shorty

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 10:35 am PT

    That's because no one cares and would have preferred that it still be included in the game. No one cared except for crying grown-ups.... old grown-ups. They should use that extra money to discount their next game or something for those who buy their games.

  • grigjd3

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 10:32 am PT

    This is the stupidest thing I've ever seen in my life. It would have been better had this been thrown out.

  • Norwood64

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 10:04 am PT

    What I find most amusing about this is that no one seems to be upset by the "clothed" sex you can have in cars in GTA IV. Which, at the right angle, is pretty graphic. Did they all just give up after Hot Coffee?

    And yeah, I agree that it must suck to pay the lawyer thousands and get $5 back. heh

  • Lelio316

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 10:02 am PT

    "so they went all trough the trouble of downloading or activating the mod, then they ask for $$$ because they were 'shocked' with what they've seen?"

    I'd love for some journalist to actually ask some of thje filers dzjere's question. The answers would be a gas!

  • plutoknight

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 9:59 am PT

    Darth_Tyrranus

    But the problem was Hot Coffee was NOT an intended part of the game. Thus, Take-Two had no responsibility to show it in an ESRB video because IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE ACCESSIBLE TO ANYONE.

    It wasn't an available portion. It was hacked/patched in via third party tools. It'd be like if you found a nude model of X character that's used in a cutscene (which, although its nude, doesn't show much in the movie), then replace it over that characters normal in-game model. The gaming company shouldn't be sued under such circumstances -- yet they were (And, I believe this was Take Two as well, regarding the PC version of Max Payne 2, but again, memory is very fuzzy)

  • pcmacro

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 9:57 am PT

    hahaha good point dzjere, not to mention they were shocked of the whole Hot Coffee scene but weren't shocked from shooting people, running people over, stealing, etc. hmmmm....makes sense I guess......NOT! Pledge doesn't mean anything anymore, its just a cleaning product haha.

  • dzjere

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 9:51 am PT

    so they went all trough the trouble of downloading or activating the mod, then they ask for $$$ because they were 'shocked' with what they've seen?

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