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Hot Coffee Just a Tempest in a Teapot?

By Chris Bennett, Tudor Carsten, Michael R. Coburn, Sarah Dale-Harris, Pablo Guzman, Danielle (Dani) Lemon, Chris Metcalfe and David Spratley

Who can forget the infamous Hot Coffee episode from a few years ago, when players found hidden (and adult-oriented) content in Take Two's "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas"?

Well, except perhaps for video game lawyers, it seems like many people have forgotten. Take Two proposed a settlement to the class action lawsuit arising from the Hot Coffee episode in late 2007 (see Take Two's settlement website here). Despite the millions of copies of the game that have been sold, and despite the outcry that ensued when the Hot Coffee story broke, only a reported 2,676 offended purchasers have actually filed claims.

Take Two expects it will cost about $30,000 to pay out the claims. Perhaps more interestingly, the plaintiff-side lawyers are seeking legal fees of about $1.3 million.

The settlement still needs to be approved by the courts, but most commentators expect that it will be approved.

Coverage at the New York Times and at GameDaily.com.

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Full post as published by Video Game Law Blog on July 03, 2008 (boomark / email).