Last month, Rockstar Games released the first official gameplay footage of Grand Theft Auto 6 through an extended trailer that debuted on Netflix before appearing on platforms like YouTube. The trailer includes content typical of the GTA series, such as guns, strippers, drugs and violence.
According to Kotaku, a version of that same trailer uploaded to Rockstar's official channel on the Chinese video platform Bilibili has been altered to blur out certain content. A GTA Forums user named BDF, whose findings were spotted by BenVideoTech, posted screenshots showing the censored version, which Kotaku says it confirmed. The blurred elements reportedly include suggestive dancing, bloody bodies, underwear and smoking. In one especially noticeable instance, a scene of the character Jason walking through a nightclub is almost entirely covered by blurring.
Kotaku reports that Rockstar initially uploaded an unedited version of the extended trailer to Bilibili, and that this original version remained up until August 31, when it was replaced by the censored edit. Oddly, other GTA 6 trailers on Rockstar's Bilibili channel remain uncensored — only the extended gameplay look has been altered to hide cleavage and smoking.
BDF said reactions among Chinese gamers were mixed: some viewed the edit as a reasonable move to keep mature content away from children, while others suggested it reflected an assumption by Take-Two that China is "closed-off and backward" and requires heavy censorship of sexual content in video games. BDF also claimed that Take-Two has been targeting re-uploads of the uncensored trailer for removal, citing a friend who reported this happening after sharing the original footage online.
Kotaku says it contacted Rockstar Games for more information about the censored trailer. The outlet also notes that, without using a VPN, users in China can visit Rockstar's website and watch the uncensored extended gameplay trailer with Chinese subtitles, suggesting the censorship applies only to the Bilibili upload. The reason for this discrepancy is not yet known.