Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser once feared that the company would be shut down in the middle of developing Grand Theft Auto 4. However, his concerns did not stem from GTA 4, but rather a controversial mod for GTA: San Andreas.
In June 2005, a scandal erupted after a group of modders led by Dutch coder Patrick Wildenborg—better known by his online moniker PatrickW—unlocked a hidden sex mini-game in the newly released PC version of GTA: San Andreas. The collective promptly shared a bypass for accessing it, releasing it under the now-infamous name Hot Coffee. While the content wasn't accessible without modifying the game's code, its discovery prompted an ESRB investigation that resulted in GTA: San Andreas having its age rating bumped from Mature to Adults Only. More regulatory trouble stemming from the scandal emerged both domestically and internationally.
Speaking on the latest, 484th episode of the Lex Fridman podcast, Houser recalled how all of this was unfolding near the beginning of the GTA 4 development cycle, making for an anxious start to production. "As a company, we'd had all that Hot Coffee drama, so constantly thought we might be shut down in the middle of making...
