Take-Two gets subpoenaed
Hot Coffee just won't go away.
Poor old Take-Two. They probably thought all that Hot Coffee nonsense was behind them, what with the FTC deciding not to fine them any money earlier this month.
But, alas - now New York's grand jury has issued subpoenas ordering the publisher to produce a load of documents relating to the hidden mini-game which was discovered in GTA: San Andreas almost a year ago now.
According to an official statement from Take-Two, the jury wants documents dating as far back as October 2001, including ones which relate to "the knowledge of the company's officers and directors regarding the creation, inclusion and programming of hidden scenes (commonly referred to as 'Hot Coffee')" in San Andreas.
Take-Two has also been ordered to supply documents relating to acquisitions, partnership deals and earnings, and the company's financial dealings with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young.
And that's not all - other requested documents include those relating to the submission of San Andreas to the ESRB for rating, plus "certain compensation and human resources documents" concerning current and former officers and directors, and "documents concerning the activities of the company's board of directors and committees there of."
Take-Two is keen to point out that it "has not been advised that it or any specific individual is presently a target of the investigation", and "is fully co-operating and providing the requested documents."
Rockstar, you may recall, initially claimed that Hot Coffee was a third-party mod - but it was later discovered that it was built into all the different versions of San Andreas. The game was re-rated in the US from Mature to Adults Only, which cost Take-Two a fortune.
It's not clear why New York's grand jury has taken an interest - or exactly what they're going to do with all those documents. Well, read them, most probably, but then what? Could Take-Two be in a whole new heap of trouble? We'll have to wait and see...