Rockstar forced to edit 'GTA IV' content

Rockstar Games has announced its eagerly-awaited Grand Theft Auto IV game has been cut ahead of its release in Australia.

The Sydney-based Office of Film and Literature Classification refused to grant the game a MA15+ rating, which is the highest rating in Australia as the country does not carry an adult certificate for consumers of 18 and over, due to its "strong violence, strong coarse language, drug and sexual references".

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Rockstar produced an edited version of the game and the Australian classification board has now awarded the title an MA15+ certificate.

Previous Grand Theft Auto games were also forced to be cut in Australia, including GTA III: Vice City and GTA: San Andreas.