The Australian Classification Board is notorious for its restrictions on mature content in video games, so it was inevitable that Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 4 would be toned down as it approached its 2008 release in the country. Australia's version of GTA 4 featured less blood and more subdued sexual content, until a DLC undid the changes (but resulted in new censorship in an entirely different country).
Grand Theft Auto, as a series, has flirted with controversy for years. Ever since GTA 3 brought the series into 3D, Grand Theft Auto controversies have continually sprung up, usually related to the games' depictions of violent or sexual content. One of the most infamous, for example, is Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' "Hot Coffee" controversy, which led the ESRB to temporarily change the game's rating to Adult-Only after a popular mod reintroduced a sex minigame cut from the official release.
Australian ratings classifications have historically put video games under more scrutiny than other countries, banning at one point games like Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead 2. In 2013, the Australian government introduced a new R18+ rating (via GameSpot AU) that allowed for a wider range of titles to release uncensored, as the previous highest rating was MA15+. Before the new rating, though, any game deemed not suitable for 15-year-olds could be rated "R" and banned outright. To avoid this, Rockstar changed GTA 4 in a few key ways before its Australian release.
What Changes Were Made To Grand Theft Auto 4's Australian Release
Grand Theft Auto 4's blood and sexual content were the main targets of Rockstar's censorship for Australian audiences. As cataloged by Movie-Censorship.com, GTA 4's Australian version included reduced gore effects: When NPCs were killed, no blood would pool under their bodies, and blood effects on the bodies themselves (i.e. bleeding through their clothes if wounded) were removed. Bloody tire tracks remained in both versions, however. The other major change could be seen when players hired sex workers. In other versions of GTA 4, players could choose the particular sex act they wanted to purchase, then adjust the camera to watch the animation from outside protagonist Nico's car. In the Australian version, there were no sex act options, and the camera remained locked to the rear of the car, which would simply bounce up and down.
Strangely, these changes were reverted shortly after Grand Theft Auto 4's April 2008 console launch. Rockstar released an uncensored PC version in Australia in December 2008, according to a 2009 Kotaku report, and the Xbox 360 version's Grand Theft Auto 4: The Lost and Damned expansion launched uncensored in February 2009. This came to PC and PlayStation 3 in April 2010, and all had the same MA15+ rating as the original, censored console release. Conversely, The Lost and Damned accidentally censored the European versions of the 360 game, according to Digital Spy, as "the censorship information between the European and Australian versions of the game was traded" by mistake. This was later fixed, leaving up-to-date versions of Grand Theft Auto 4 uncensored.
Grand Theft Auto 4 first released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on April 29, 2008.