Gay Tony has sexy bits, says BBFC

By Robert Purchese Published 21 October, 2009

Enough to ensure it gets an 18 rating.

The BBFC has revealed there are some "strong" sexy moments in upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV downloadable add-on The Ballad of Gay Tony.

These, plus "very strong language" and "hard drug use", have resulted in an 18 rating for Episodes of Liberty City - a standalone bundle of The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony. The game passed certification with no cuts made.

In a spoiler-filled description, the BBFC describes the key moments in BOGT.

"There game includes some sex scenes," it reads. "The sex is quite strong, but always masked and the characters concerned are invariably fully clothed (no nudity)." Then there's some stuff about a lady giving a man a nice present and the man returning the favour, twice. Including once during what must have been a quiet half hour in the office.

The Ballad of Gay Tony will be released on 29th October for 1600 Microsoft Points (GBP 13.60 / EUR 19.20) exclusively on Xbox 360.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (25) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Zomoniac #1 2 years ago

    So despite being an 18, characters still have to be fully clothed... Because adults don't know what sex is and may turn into psychopaths should they see computer generated nudity, obviously.

  • PearOfAnguish #2 2 years ago

    I hope it's called Gay Tony because he is really really happy, otherwise I shall be most offended.

  • ram #3 2 years ago

    sex in computer games is hot.

  • bad09 #4 2 years ago

    Who needs sex scenes when you take a hooker to a quiet spot, shag her then beat her to death and steal back your cash?

    Er.....in GTA I mean...yeah, that's it...

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #5 2 years ago

    There's full frontal male nudity in Episodes From Liberty City.

    Though I was disappointed that they skimped on the opportunity to properly animate the flacid penis in question. That really broke the atmosphere for me.

  • Peew971 #6 2 years ago

    ^^ He means in The Lost and Damned. It's quite disturbing as you don't see it coming but it's funny at the same time :)

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #7 2 years ago

    It's the bundle of the two to which the ratings apply, unless I'm mistaken, DLC doesn't qualify for separate ratings of its own.

  • Ninja_Tino #8 2 years ago

    I saw it coming as every single games website felt the need to point it out!!!

  • kinky_mong #9 2 years ago

    "I saw it coming as every single games website felt the need to point it out!!!"

    Pretty sure it was flaccid so there was no coming to see.

  • Moribundman #10 2 years ago

    I wish my girlfriend would give me a nice present.

  • M_of_the_sys #11 2 years ago

    Shock. Horror. GTA gets an 18 rating!

  • spookyzombie #12 2 years ago

    I'm getting confused with this. I thought pegi rated everything these days.

  • kingmong #13 2 years ago

    i thought the whole full frontal thing in TLAD was a funny bit of commentary on the absurdity of current censorship rules. non-graphic mini-games which ARENT EVEN PLAYABLE IN THE GAME cause controversy, and even Mass Effect caused a storm because it showed people's bare shoulders as they kissed. yet you can put a big cock in the middle of the screen for as long as you want once it isn't erect.

    seriously wtf?

  • hiddenranbir #14 2 years ago

    They should go for crazy pixellation like Saints Row 2!

  • Monkey_Puncher #15 2 years ago

    " It's quite disturbing as you don't see it coming but it's funny at the same time :)"

    Reminds me of most Friday nights...

  • RexRunti #16 2 years ago

    I personally think all games should have an "American Mode", "Australian Mode", "German Mode" and "a rest of world mode". Of course why people are so excited that we will be using the system that deemed Mass Effect and Operation Flashpoint:Dragon Rising were worthy of 18s I have no idea.

  • Spekingur #17 2 years ago

    Darn it. GTA fails again! Where is my irish gangster knucklehead and the Ladyboys Gang?

  • Demiath #18 2 years ago

    Hmm...must be awfully inconvenient to have "quite strong" sex while being "fully clothed".

  • el_pollo_diablo #19 2 years ago

    Even if there were computery tits, winkies and muffs all over the place, it's never going to actually end up being sexy is it?
    Why? Because it's NOT POSSIBLE.

  • smelly #20 2 years ago

    "Hmm...must be awfully inconvenient to have "quite strong" sex while being "fully clothed". "


    Lets not forget the "hot coffee" thing was fully clothed, and look at the uproar that got!

  • Magellum #21 2 years ago

    Obviously being a GTA title, especially being the standalone expansion of an 18 rated game- this was always going to be 18 rated. But a lack of nudity is also nothing new due to a little something called Hot Coffee.

  • Drakron #22 2 years ago

    Mass Effect did not caused a storm because the ones that tried were Fox News and the only thing that it did was a lot of Internet Lulz as their claims (that were ridiculous) were debunked and their "experts" ended admitting they never even watched the game.

    GTA:SA did create a issue but the content was in the disk and then in the HDD even if "disabled" that was what the ruling decided as they are responsible with is shipped with the game.

    Of course that is ESRB and their review system is completely ridiculous (serious go check it out) as Oblivion proven it as it was re-rated not because of any nude skin sneaked into the game (there is one, soft off but that was required for a certain outfit to show up properly) but because of the mutilated corpses that were all around in the game.

  • smelly #23 2 years ago

    "But a lack of nudity is also nothing new due to a little something called Hot Coffee. "

    Hot coffee was fully clothed.

    The hackers changed the clothing texture on the girl to make her appear naked. The girl nude did not exist in game. And your main character (i forget his name) wasnt nude even in the modded texture version.

    it's akin to me taking a newspaper, and some felt tips, and drawing over a picture to make it look like someone is naked having sex in it... Then leaving the paper lying around in a park - someone picking it up and being offended by it.. Then suing the paper for allowing me to add the drawings in felt tip in the first place.

    Afterall, the picture of tony blair and gordon brown was in the paper already.. they just allowed me to alter it into a sick perverted image.. how DARE they.

    IMHO - I'm guessing the only reason they settled was because people lack so much understanding regarding tech that to explain the above to a judge would've been a nightmare... Heck even "tech savvy" gamers have trouble understanding that bit!


    Edited by 2 at 22/10/09 @ 01:55

  • metalangel #24 2 years ago

    So what? The Getaway had tits and everything in the porn studio/strip club bits. It doesn't in any way affect the game.

  • YourMessageHere #25 2 years ago

    I'm not sure that nudity is an issue in the UK - obviously it's significant for all sorts of idiotic reasons in the US but I doubt the nudity or not of characters screwing in a game has any significance in the British ratings system.

    "There game includes some sex scenes," it reads.

    No it doesn't. Shoddy.

    Hmm...must be awfully inconvenient to have "quite strong" sex while being "fully clothed".

    Not in my experience - skirts are truly marvelous garments, and the inventor of trouser flies is a pretty good person IMO.