One Country is Already Threatening to Ban GTA 6, Which…

Calls for a ban on Grand Theft Auto 6 have been issued by an international public organization focused on Russia, citing a perception of amoral content in the action-adventure series. If made official, a Russian ban on Grand Theft Auto 6 could cut down Rockstar Games' potential worldwide audience to the tune of more than 140 million people.

The latest entry in Rockstar's celebrated franchise tops the list of many fans' most-anticipated games of 2026, and it's not hard to see why. Alongside the series' historic popularity, especially after its transition to a 3D open world in Grand Theft Auto 3, fans are also dealing with an elongated time gap between mainline Grand Theft Auto games. Grand Theft Auto 5 was first released in September 2013, and after rumors of a second delay for Grand Theft 6 were confirmed in November, the new projected release date of November 19, 2026, means fans will have waited more than 13 years for the day they finally get their hands on it.

Grand Theft Auto 6 Faces Possible Ban in Russia

For millions of eager potential players, that day may never come. Mikhail Ivanov, who serves as deputy chair of the World Russian People's Council, has called for a ban of Grand Theft Auto 6 nearly 10 months ahead of its projected launch, calling the unreleased game "a particularly dangerous tool of influence," via a translation. As reported by Russian news website News.ru, Ivanov has justified his call for a ban in order to protect Russia's youth from the risk of corruption caused by media. The Grand Theft Auto series is no stranger to political controversy, and depending on the weight of Ivanov's words, its reputation and popularity with a worldwide audience could cut players in Russia off from accessing it entirely.

In his comments, Ivanov took specific aim at the development teams at Rockstar Games, saying they "deliberately agree to include destructive and vulgar content in their product, which is completely unacceptable for the moral health of society." There are a multitude of crimes players can commit in Grand Theft Auto games, including robbery, kidnapping, arson, and mass murder, which can be carried out as parts of main or side quests, or simply by players exploring the dangerous urban open-world environments. The series' controversial content is well known on a world scale, and it has earned full-series bans in other countries around the world, including Thailand, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates.

One act Ivanov found particularly egregious was the planned presence of the depiction of male striptease in Grand Theft Auto 6's content, which he called a "direct and cynical violation of basic moral norms and traditional spiritual values." Characters in Grand Theft Auto games have been known to engage in sexual content including visiting strip clubs, and the infamous "Hot Coffee" mini-game that was buried in the code of Grand Theft: Auto San Andreas caused an uproar among moral objectors. Ivanov's particular opposition to male strippers, however, has raised alarm bells in the LGBTQIA+ gaming community. Sexual contact between consenting adults is not outlawed in Russia, though there are restrictions against pro-LGBTQIA+ advocacy groups and all forms of gender-affirming care.

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Ultimately, the World Russian People's Council does not have the legal authority to enforce any sort of ban. That authority and responsibility lies with federal government agency Roskomnadzor, which manages the country's Federal List of Extremist Materials. While Roskomnador banned access to Roblox in Russia over potential safety risks to children in late 2025, its lengthy list of banned materials has traditionally overlooked video games, focusing more heavily on books, movies, songs, websites, religious texts, and, in recent years, social media platforms. However, the public's awareness of the World Russian People's Council holds some social influence over the public, and Ivanov has called on Rockstar to "release special, cleared of immoral content versions for our market," if it wants to avoid a ban.