Sex Scene Shelves Take-Two's 'Grand Theft'

As part of the move, the ESRB is changing its rating on all versions of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas from "Mature" to the more restrictive "Adults Only." Take-Two plans to issue a patch for the PC version of San Andreas that will block the "hot coffee" program. Ankner said the patch will be available in "a couple weeks." However, the ESRB has said the hot coffee version was also found on the PlayStation and Xbox versions.

The ESRB advises that "Mature" games are for people 17 and older and recommends that "Adults Only" be played just by adults. However the ratings are merely guidelines and retailers can choose whether or not to enforce them; according to the ESRB, most major U.S. retailers do.

Meanwhile, Take-Two plans to issue a new version of San Andreas in its fiscal fourth quarter that will also block the hot coffee modification. That version will carry the original "Mature" rating on the game and will likely be released in September or October, Ankner said.

Take-Two now expects to lose 40 cents to 45 cents a share in its current quarter on sales ranging from $160 million to $170 million. For the full year, the company expects to earn $1.05 to $1.12 a share on sales of $1.26 billion to $1.31 billion.

Previously, the company had predicted that it would lose 5 cents to 10 cents a share on sales ranging from $205 million to $215 million in the current quarter.

The reserve fund is an effort to protect the company against potential returns from retailers, Ankner said. Ankner declined to say how the controversy over the hot coffee scenes was affecting sales of San Andreas. But he did say that "there has been a lot of interest in the game" both before and after the hullabaloo arose.

San Andreas was the best-selling video game last year and the Grand Theft Auto series has been one of the best selling game franchises of all time.