14 DAY TRIAL // Take-Two has announced this weekend the settlement of all consumer class action lawsuits pending in the United States against Rockstar Games and the mother company itself, related to the much debated Hot Coffee scene in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Given that the proposed settlement receives preliminary and final approval from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the official report confirms that all claims in these lawsuits will be dismissed without any admission of liability or wrongdoing by Take-Two or Rockstar.
"If the case had continued, we believe the court would have agreed that Take-Two was not liable for consumers acting independently to modify their games with third-party hardware and software to access normally inaccessible content", said Ben Feder, Chief Executive Officer of Take-Two. "Nonetheless, we believe it is in the best interest of the Company to avoid protracted and costly litigation to prove our case and to finally put this matter behind us."
The same report says that under the terms of the settlement, class members will be able to claim benefits if they swear that they:
(a) bought a copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas before July 20, 2005; (b) were offended and upset by the ability of consumers to modify and alter the game's content using the third-party Hot Coffee modification; (c ) would not have bought the game had they known that consumers could modify and alter the game's content using the third-party Hot Coffee modification; (d) would have returned the game, upon learning the game could be modified and altered, if they thought this possible.
Settlement class members who attest to these facts may apply for benefits that range from an exchange of the game disk for an edited copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to a cash payment of up to $35 for consumers who submit detailed proofs of purchase.
Take-Two has agreed to spend "at least $1.025 million on settlement benefits", given that the actual value of all cash payments under the settlement will depend on the number of class members that apply for benefits. However, the whole settlement is said to set Take-Two back some $2.75 million, since there are the costs of providing notice to class members and paying the lawsuit fees as well.
Take-Two had already established a reserve to cover the expected cost of the settlement and related expenses. Full settlement terms will be disclosed in mid-November, when a preliminary approval for the settlement will be requested.