The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants has expressed its concern over the depiction of Niko in GTA IV, worrying the game could make life hard for Eastern Europeans.

"The figures show that East European immigrants are not proportionately responsible for any increase in crime," a spokesperson said to The Times. "This plays on untrue stereotypes."

The Grand Theft Auto series is no stranger to allegations of racism and stereotyping.

In November 2003, Cuban and Haitian groups in Florida accused GTA: Vice City of encouraging hostilities towards them, whilst an article in the New York Times in 2004 questioned whether San Andreas was racially stereotyping in its depiction of African Americans.