Is GTA VI banned anywhere? The 'eight countries' list, checked

"GTA VI banned for over a billion people" makes a good headline. It started with the small print of a pre-order bonus.

Verdict: Rumor, Very Low confidence: GTA VI is banned in eight countries. The list is real, but it's PlayStation's list of stores excluded from a free month of GTA+, and GTA VI is on sale in Taiwan, one of the eight. Confirmed from Sony's own stores: GTA VI isn't sold on PlayStation in Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman or Lebanon. Inference, Moderate confidence: that follows the series' existing absence there rather than a new ban.

Is GTA VI banned in any country?

Not by any government we can find. The claim that it's banned in eight countries started with GAMINGbible on 26 June, which wrote that "According to PlayStation, GTA VI has been banned in several countries": Bahrain, China, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Russia and Taiwan, "currently excluding one billion customers". Other sites repeated it.

Where did the 'banned in eight countries' list come from?

From the terms of a pre-order bonus. Digital pre-orders of GTA VI come with a free month of GTA+, Rockstar's paid membership. PlayStation's terms for that offer say who is eligible: "All PlayStation Country Stores, excluding Bahrain, China, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Russian Federation, Taiwan." Same eight names. The list says where the GTA+ month isn't offered. It says nothing about where the game is sold.

Where can't you buy GTA VI on PlayStation?

We checked Sony's stores on 3 October. GTA VI's store page doesn't load in the Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman or Lebanon stores, while other games' pages do. It's listed in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where it's rated 21+, in Taiwan and Hong Kong, rated 18+, and in Turkey. Russia's store has been shut since March 2022, when Sony suspended its operations there. We couldn't check mainland China's store, which runs separately, and we checked PlayStation only; Xbox's regional stores may differ. China accounts for most of the headline's billion people.

Is that a GTA VI ban?

Probably not. In the Kuwait and Qatar stores, GTA V and GTA Online aren't listed either: a search for "grand theft auto" returns only the remastered trilogy. The same search in the UAE store shows GTA VI, GTA V and GTA Online. Whatever keeps the series out of those stores was there before GTA VI. Neither Sony nor Rockstar has explained it, and no regulator has announced a decision. Inference, Moderate confidence.

Can you buy GTA VI in Taiwan?

Yes. Taiwan's PlayStation Store sells a Chinese, English and Korean version, rated 18+ under Taiwan's system, unlocking at midnight local time on 19 November. Being on the GTA+ list didn't stop that, which is the clearest sign the list was never about the game.

So where is GTA VI actually banned?

Nowhere, on the record so far. It isn't sold on PlayStation in five Middle Eastern stores, two of which don't sell GTA V either; Russia's store is closed to everything; and ratings are still pending in Japan, Germany and Brazil, which is a queue, not a ban.

What changes this: A government or ratings board refusing GTA VI, Sony or Rockstar explaining regional availability, or the game appearing in those five stores.