NEW YORK, NY — Although the coffee culture craze continues to sweep the country, Paul Eibeler would probably prefer to never hear the words “hot” and “coffee” in the same sentence ever again.Eibeler is the president and CEO of Take-Two Interactive, made most famous for the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) investigation into the hidden contents of its “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” computer game.

While some games intentionally plant “Easter eggs” or “hot coffee” on their discs as bonus rounds, footage, or other rewards for inquisitive gamers, game opponents accused the company of including sexual content that Take-Two programmers initially insisted did not come from them and, instead, had been the work of hackers. The truth, however, proved to be different from the official story.

After waiting for a 30-day public comment period to run its course, the FTC has announced that the inquiry is officially concluded, that no penalties or fines have been assessed against Take-Two or its publishing label, Rockstar Games, and that the Consent Order and Agreement with the two entities has been unanimously approved.

The FTC did warn Take-Two that if any wrongdoing ever was uncovered, the company could expect to pay civil penalties of $11,000, something Take-Two should not have to worry about if it follows the directions outlined in the Consent Order.

According to the game publisher, “Among other thing, the Consent Order provides that the Company shall not misrepresent a video game’s ratings or content descriptors and that the Company shall implement a system to ensure that all game content is reviewed in connection with submissions to ratings authorities.”

Eibeler indicates that this should cause no hardship to the gaming company, giving that it recognizes “the importance of maintaining public confidence in the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rating system” as well as the importance of “helping the ESRB educate parents and consumers about the rating system.”

Although Take-Two escaped without punishment from the courts, it took a beating in the marketplace after being forced to remove nearly $25 million worth of product from the shelves and then re-release it with an “M” for Mature rating.

Eibeler says that he and his company “look forward to putting this behind us and focusing on what we do best – creating videogrames.”