GTA IV pulled from sale in Thailand
Following taxi driver's murder.
Grand Theft Auto IV has been taken off store shelves in Thailand after a teenager claimed the game inspired him to commit murder.
The 18 year-old confessed to robbing and killing a 54 year-old taxi driver and is now in custody, according to Reuters. He was reportedly an obsessive player of GTA IV and said he was recreating a scene from the game.
New Era Interactive Media, which distributes GTA IV in Thailand, has since issued a call to pull it from sale. "We are sending out requests today to outlets and shops to pull games off their shelves and we will replace them with other games," said New Era's Sakchai Chotikachinda. "We are also urging videogame arcades to pull the games from service."
Chief police investigator Veeravit Pipattanasak said, "[The teenager] said he wanted to find out if it was as easy in real life to rob a taxi as it was in the game."