Datamining players of the recently released Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy have reportedly found files related to the infamous "Hot Coffee" mini-game cut from GTA: San Andreas. The launch of the GTA Trilogy has not gone smoothly for Rockstar and Grove Street Games, to say the least. Fan backlash towards the game began even before launch. Much of the criticism has been aimed at the GTA Trilogy's visuals, as many players believe the game to be a downgrade when compared side-by-side with pre-existing mods from the community, or even with footage of the unmodified original game.
In the midst of the controversy, the trilogy was unexpectedly pulled from Rockstar's PC platform, the Rockstar Games Launcher, just one day after release on November 11th. It was theorized (and later confirmed) that this surprising removal happened because the PC version of the game had shipped with too many unintended files still included in the GTA Trilogy. Notable amongst these files are numerous music tracks previously cut from later versions of GTA: San Andreas due to licensing issues; these were simply disabled rather than removed from the game outright.
As first reported by VideoGamesChronicle, it appears that dataminers like secretagentmammal on Twitter have uncovered yet another piece of cut content from GTA: San Andreas - the infamous "Hot Coffee" mini-game. The sex-focused mini-game was originally intended to be a part of San Andreas' dating system, earning its name from a line of dialogue where the player's date invites them into their home for coffee. The find is especially surprising considering how much trouble Rockstar has faced in the past over even the potential inclusion of the minigame.
The minigame has never actually been accessible within San Andreas by any official means, but that did not stop it from becoming the center of a legal mess for Rockstar. The minigame was first discovered by modders in 2005, and was quickly made accessible on both PC as well as on consoles via simple mods. Legal proceedings and class-action lawsuits would go on for years after, eventually leading to Rockstar paying out at least $20 million as of 2009.
Despite the multitude of controversies faced over the years, the staying power of Grand Theft Auto as a series is undeniable, and publisher Take-Two Interactive believes GTA could last as long as James Bond. Grand Theft Auto V on its own stands as a landmark for financial success in the video game industry. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy, for all its controversies, may still be able to follow suit, if it can ever make it back onto PC.