Rockstar Games has removed or restricted multiple pieces of Grand Theft Auto content throughout 2026, ranging from licensed music and fan-made missions to regional gambling features and cut development assets.
The removals span GTA V, GTA Online, and promotional material for the upcoming GTA VI, reflecting ongoing licensing obligations, content moderation policies, and legal compliance measures.
Music Removed from GTA V
In September 2026, a new update for the GTA V Enhanced Edition on PC removed Moloko’s song ‘The Time Is Now’ from the in-game radio station Non-Stop-Pop FM.
The removal was first noticed by X user Tex2 and reported by The Gamer. The song appears to remain available in other editions of the game, though future updates could extend the change to additional platforms.
Rockstar previously addressed similar music licensing removals in a 2018 statement regarding GTA IV. ‘Due to music licensing restrictions, we are required to remove certain songs from the in-game soundtrack of Grand Theft Auto IV and its Episodes, in particular a large portion of the Russian pop station, Vladivostok FM,’ the company said at the time. ‘However we are replacing some of those songs with a new set of songs on that station.’
Fan-Made Missions Pulled from GTA Online
In January 2026, Rockstar removed user-created missions in GTA Online that recreated the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. A mission titled ‘We Are Charlie Kirk’ was pulled from the game after footage circulated on social media.
The game added ‘Charlie Kirk’ to its profanity filter, preventing players from using the full name in mission titles. Variety first reported the removal.
The missions were created using the Mission Creator tool introduced in the December 2025 ‘A Safehouse in the Hills’ update. In the removed missions, players took on the role of a rooftop sniper tasked with assassinating an actor representing Kirk.
Kirk was fatally shot on September 10, 2025, while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. The alleged gunman, Tyler Robinson, is awaiting trial.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick addressed the removal in a February 2026 statement. ‘When the content infringes our terms of service, we act firmly, as we did in this case,’ Zelnick said.
Despite the ban, searches using ‘Charlie’ and ‘Kirk’ as separate terms still returned results for other user-generated content at the time of reporting.
Casino Features Disabled in Australia
In July 2026, Rockstar disabled all gambling features in GTA Online’s Diamond Casino & Resort for players in Australia. The change removed access to the daily Lucky Wheel, blackjack, poker, roulette, horse betting, and slot machines.
The removal meant Australian players could no longer obtain the Lost Slamvan, one of the rarest vehicles in the game, which was only available through the casino’s Lucky Wheel as a Mystery Reward. The overall probability of winning the Lost Slamvan was approximately 0.005 percent, or about 1 in 20,000.
Community speculation pointed to Australia’s new online safety and age assurance laws, introduced in March 2026, as the reason for the change. GTA Online is already rated R18+ in Australia.
Reports also surfaced that card games in Red Dead Online were no longer available for Australian players.
Cut Content from GTA V Development
In July 2026, former Rockstar Games producer John Ricchio revealed on the Kiwi Talkz podcast that a significant amount of finished content was cut from GTA V during development.
Ricchio said the animation team became a bottleneck, preventing almost-finished content from reaching Rockstar’s quality standards. ‘There was so much stuff in GTA, particularly in GTA 5. Oh my god, there was so much stuff that was done,’ Ricchio recalled. ‘Like minigames that were completely done and ready to go, except for, like, animation, right?’
He also said entire levels were discarded. ‘It wasn’t like they went into DLC or anything,’ Ricchio said. ‘They just disappeared.’
Ricchio attributed the practice to the ‘Hot Coffee’ controversy from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which led to stricter handling of unused content. ‘After the Hot Coffee incident, having things on the disc that you don’t intend to make public is dangerous,’ he said.
According to Ricchio, Rockstar now invests significant manpower in purging all unused content before a game ships.
GTA VI Trailer Censored for China
In September 2026, Rockstar released a heavily censored version of the GTA VI: Extended Look trailer on Bilibili for Chinese audiences. The 27-minute gameplay demonstration blurred dancing, contraband-related content, and adult material.
Scenes of protagonists Jason and Lucia in a nightclub were largely obscured, and a scene showing Jason smoking had his hands blurred. Beach footage blurred portions of crowds, and close-up shots of bloody corpses were fully covered.
GTAForums user BDF noted that the original upload of the trailer on Netflix did not include these modifications. Rockstar reportedly edited the video around August 31, 2026.
The changes divided players in Chinese online communities. Some suspected the censorship was intended to prevent younger users from viewing mature content, while others believed it reflected broader platform policies.
Rockstar and Take-Two also issued DMCA takedown notices to users who reposted unblurred versions of the trailer on Bilibili.
AI-Generated Content and Leaks Targeted
In July 2026, Rockstar and Take-Two initiated a campaign to remove AI-generated fake GTA VI gameplay videos from YouTube and X. The companies sent DMCA copyright complaints to remove the content.
The takedowns came as Rockstar prepared for its official marketing push ahead of GTA VI’s release.
Separately, Take-Two filed DMCA subpoenas against Microsoft and Discord in August 2026, seeking to identify the source of leaked GTA VI footage. A US federal court required compliance by September 4, 2026.
Take-Two also submitted takedown requests to GitHub regarding leaked content hosted on the platform.
On September 18, 2026, a 192 GB archive of Rockstar development data surfaced online, containing assets from a cancelled Liberty City expansion for GTA V and early GTA VI files. The archive originated from the same 2022 hack that exposed unreleased GTA VI development videos.
Rockstar Games has not publicly acknowledged the archive or its contents.
GTA VI is scheduled to launch on November 19, 2026, for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, with a PC release planned for a later date.