The wait is over for an all-new Grand Theft Auto. At least, if you happen to live in Saudi Arabia, or the United Arab Emirates. After nearly 12 years, the two key territories can finally play Grand Theft Auto 5 entirely legally, with no discernible strings attached.
The fifth and by far the most successful entry in Rockstar's pop-culture zeitgist franchise - which, by the way, still sells around five million copies per fiscal quarter - was kept wayward of Saudi Arabia and the UAE from September 17th, 2013 until July 17th, 2025. Imagine the fresh batch of microtransactions that the nonstop juggernaut known as Grand Theft Auto Online is about to receive.
The governmental regulations against blatantly violent video games like Grand Theft Auto 5 didn't just change out of the blue. Rather, and as the industry analysts at Niko Partners have explained, it's a result of a brand-new age rating designated 21+. Both the General Authority for Media Regulation and the UAE Media Council, in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, respectively, have approved this new classification.
Previously, the standardized PEGI 18+ rating had been the highest-recognized category for game releases. Given...
