Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has had its rating changed in America following the uncovering of sexual explicit content found buried in the game.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board in America has agreed to change the rating initially given to the title after Take Two, the games publisher, admitted it created sex scenes found in the game.

The scenes were however were unlocked following the installation of a patch on the PC version known as Hot Coffee developed by a fan of the game (see previous story)

Take Two said the scenes were also in the Xbox and PlayStation versions.

Because of the findings it means that the games previous rating of M for mature has been changed to the Adults Only (AO) rating means only those over 18 can buy it rather than the to those aged 17 and over.

While in the UK the game already carries an 18 rating, the 18 rating in the US is like the R rating in films seen as a kiss of death to a movie or games performance.

The change in rating has already meant that stores such as Wal-Mart, Target and Best Buy have removed it from their shelves because it breaks a policy of not stocking titles with an AO rating.

Take Two has said it would stop making the current version of the GTA game and offer an update that made the Hot Coffee hack useless in an attempt to get the game back in store, it also said that it will be creating a version of the game with the sexual content stripped out so that it can be sold under the mature rating.

>> Rockstar - Official website of Rockstar