Federal Judge Ends Class-Action Suit Over 'Grand Theft Auto' Sex Scene

NEW YORK — Despite the outrage over a hidden sex scene in a "Grand Theft Auto" game, a federal judge has derailed a class-action suit against the game's makers.

U.S. District Judge Shirley Wohl Kram ruled that people who bought the game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" couldn't be lumped together into a single, massive class action against Take-Two Interactive Software and Rockstar Games.

That essentially stops the case in its tracks, because Kram's ruling said that each individual claim would be subject to the laws of their home state. A single court case in New York isn't going to happen.

But besides ending this particular class action, the ruling also derailed an agreement between the game makers' lawyers and the approximately 3,000 people who found the hidden sex scene offensive enough to pursue a legal remedy.

The hullabaloo surrounding this game started in 2004 when word broke about the hidden sex scene. Accessing the scene took a third-party program and considerable know-how. The hidden scene sparked outrage from lawmakers and some parents who accused the game makers of defrauding consumers by failing to disclose the existence of the sex scene.

The "Grand Theft Auto" series follows a series of professional criminals who ascend the ranks of organized crime in different cities by robbing banks, murdering enemies and generally wreaking havoc.

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