I had something of a rude awakening this morning. Because before i had time to rub my eyes, my phone was bombarded with messages about the GTA 5 ban in Australia and New Zealand. And i had this terrible feeling of “deja vu”.

Because this is something that has happened in the past (but with other titles such as Manhunt, Postal 1 and 2, Saints Row IV, Silent Hill: Homecoming, South Park: The Stick of Truth with many more).

Then we got the “Withdraw Grand Theft Auto 5 – this sickening game encourages players to commit sexual violence and kill women” petition (Aka “The Grand Theft Auto 5 ban“). Which got the whole “ban GTA 5” bandwagon rolling.

This is the actual quote from the GTA 5 ban petition page:
“Please Target, we appeal to you as women survivors of violence, including women who experienced violence in the sex industry, to immediately withdraw Grand Theft Auto V from sale,” 

And that resulted in GTA 5´s in both Australia (Target) and New Zealand. It diden´t take long for Take-Two CEO ( Strauss Zelnick) to respond to all of this though.

And this is what  Strauss Zelnick said about the GTA 5 bans in Australia:

“We are disappointed that an Australian retailer has chosen no longer to sell Grand Theft Auto V–a title that has won extraordinary critical acclaim and has been enjoyed by tens of millions of consumers around the world. Grand Theft Auto V explores mature themes and content similar to those found in many other popular and groundbreaking entertainment properties.

Interactive entertainment is today’s most compelling art form and shares the same creative freedom as books, television, and movies. I stand behind our products, the people who create them, and the consumers who play them.” – Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick

And that´s why the folks from #GamerGate is starting to ban Target (and other stores that has started to ban Grand Theft Auto 5). There´s even a #BoycottTargetAustralia hastag now. So i guess that it´s just a matter of time before there will be a boycott against K-Mart as well.

Because K-Mart is going to take Grand Theft Auto 5 off the shelves as well. What can i say? The video game industry just seems to get darker and darker, and the #GamerGate rabbit hole seems to have no end to it.

But what do you guys think of all this? Should there be a GTA 5 ban?

Robin “V-Act” Ek
The Gaming Ground

More by Robin Ek:

• New Old Pixels is to bring the original ‘Toki’ arcade game, to original retro hardware
• The 2D pixel art PvPvE extraction shooter, ‘Project S.U.N.D.I.A.L.’, is coming to Steam on April 27th
• The 1-4 player egg cracking adventure, ‘CRACK’, is coming to Steam on October 26th
• The unique horror game ‘Hoarder’ is coming to Steam in 2027
• The cozy first-person warehouse sim ‘BOB LOGISTICS’ is coming to Steam in Q4 2026

Tags: #GamerGate, Grand Theft Auto 5, Grand Theft Auto 5 ban, GTA5, Rockstar, Take-Two, Target