FTC 'Hot Coffee' Investigation Complete

Take-Two Interactive said Friday that the Federal Trade Commission had given final approval to the settlement it had reached back in June, thus closing the inquiry. The closure of the investigation comes after a mandatory 30-day period where the public was given an opportunity to comment.

Under the terms of that agreement, Take-Two must now prominently disclose any questionable content on the cover of the game, unless the company had already informed the ESRB of its content. Additionally, the company is barred from misrepresenting the content of a game in the future.

As well as the above stipulations, Take-Two is now also required to establish and maintain a system where content is reviewed prior to submission to a rating authority. Failure to comply with the order will result in fines of up to $11,000 per violation.

The FTC will also require Take-Two to file compliance reports on a regular basis, according to the settlement.

"We are extremely pleased that the FTC has concluded its very thorough investigation, and that the matter has been resolved," Take-Two president and CEO Paul Eibeler said. "We look forward to putting this behind us and focusing on what we do best - creating video games."

Not everyone is happy with the settlement -- barely a week after the two sides reached the agreement, Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee slammed the FTC for being too lenient in its sanctions against Take-Two.