Entertainment Software Rating Board

ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board)

Company type	Non-profit, self-regulatory
Industry	Organization and rating system
Founded	1994 in Canada and United States
Founder	Entertainment Software Association
Headquarters	Canada United States
Area served	Canada United States
Key people	Interactive Digital Software Association (now the Entertainment Software Association)
Parent	3DO Rating System (by The 3DO Company, now defunct) Recreational Software Advisory Council (now defunct) Videogame Rating Council (by Sega of America)
Website	http://www.esrb.org

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings, enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines, and ensures responsible online privacy principles for computer and video games and other entertainment software in Canada and the United States.

The ESRB was established in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Association (formerly Interactive Digital Software Association). By late 2009, it had assigned nearly 19,130 ratings to titles submitted by more than 350 publishers.

One of the reasons the ESRB was founded was due to violent content found in video games such as Night Trap, Mortal Kombat, Lethal Enforcers, and Doom, as well as other controversial video games portraying overly violent or intense sexual situations at the time.

The ESRB assigns ratings to games based on their content, similar to the motion picture rating systems used in many countries. Their aim is to aid consumers in determining a game's content and suitability. A game's rating is displayed on its box, the media, in advertisements and on the game's website(s).

The rating system is strictly voluntary, however nearly all video games are submitted for rating because many retail stores prohibit the sale of unrated video games and the major console manufacturers will not license games for their systems unless they carry ESRB ratings.

Ratings

The ESRB Ratings since 2004.

The symbols ESRB uses are stylized alphabetical letters meant to indicate the game's suitability. ESRB currently uses 7 different ratings.

Unrestricted ratings

Abbr.	Rating	Active Since	Description	Age Suitable	Equivalent Movie Ratings	Equivalent TV Ratings
	Early Childhood	1994	Games with this rating contain no material that elders would find inappropriate. Games that fall under this rating are specifically intended for young children and are usually educational. Some examples include JumpStart Pet Rescue, Dragon Tales: Learn & Fly With Dragons and Dora the Explorer: Journey to the Purple Planet for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube systems. This rating is similar to PEGI's 3 (low end) and Australian Classification Board's E.	3	Low G	TV-Y
	Everyone	1997	Games in this category may contain no or minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence. Some examples include Sonic Heroes, Epic Mickey, Pac-Man World, and Animaniacs: The Great Edgar Hunt, most games in The Legend of Zelda series, Mario series, Gran Turismo series and Madden NFL. This rating is similar to PEGI's 3 (high end) and 7 (low end), and ACB's G.	6	High G Low PG	TV-G Low TV-Y7 (FV)
	Everyone 10 and older	2004	Contains content that might be considered unsuitable for children under 10 years of age. Games in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy, violence, language, animated blood and/or minimal suggestive themes. The ESRB introduced the E10+ rating on October 1, 2004; Donkey Kong Jungle Beat being the first game to receive this rating. Some examples include Madagascar, Lego Star Wars, Kingdom Hearts series, Sonic and the Black Knight, The Legend of Spyro Trilogy, Spore, Mario Strikers Charged, and Rayman Raving Rabbids 2. This rating is similar to PEGI's 7 (high end) and 12 (low end), and ACB's PG and M (low end)	10	High PG	High TV-Y7 "low" TV-PG
	Teen	1994	Contains content that might be considered unsuitable for children under 13 or 16 years of age. Titles in this category may contain more intense violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, blood, simulated gambling, and/or use of strong language (which is uncensored). Some examples include WWE Smackdown vs. Raw, Futurama, The Simpsons Game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, The Sims series, the Castlevania series, the Guitar Hero series, and the first four Ratchet and Clank games. This rating is similar to PEGI's 12 (high end) and 16(low end), and ACB's M (high end) and MA15+ (low end)	13 (low end, 16 in high end)	PG-13	"high" TV-PG low TV-14

Other unrestricted ratings

Abbr.	Rating	Active Since	Description	Equivalent Movie Ratings	Equivalent TV Ratings
	Rating Pending	1994	Product has been submitted to the ESRB and is awaiting final rating. However, once rated, all pre-release advertising must contain the game's official ESRB rating. Some games, depending on the intensity of their content, may also prompt the use of the disclaimer of "May contain content inappropriate for children" for many games that are rated T (Teen), M (Mature) and AO (Adults Only).	—	—

Restricted ratings

Abbr.	Rating	Active Since	Description	Age Unrestricted	Equivalent Movie Ratings	Equivalent TV Ratings
	Mature (17+)	1994	Titles in this category may contain more blood and gore and some games may contain sexual themes/content (which is censored). Examples of Games in the lower part of this rating include "Call of Duty,Red Dead Redemption and the The Halo Series, Games in the higher part of this category include Grand Theft Auto, Manhunt, and Manhunt 2. Many retailers (like Target, Future Shop, GameStop, Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, Amazon.com and Best Buy) have a policy of not selling games with this rating to people under 17 without parental approval. This rating is similar to PEGI's 16 (high end) and 18, and ACB's MA15+ (high end)	17	R	High TV-14 Low TV-MA
	Adults Only (18+)	1994	Contains content that is considered unsuitable for people under 18 years of age, and cannot be bought by anyone below that age. These may include adult video games that show sex and graphic nudity, extreme violence and blood and gore. As of 2010, there have been twenty-three products which have received and kept the rating. The AO rating is the subject of ongoing, heated controversy due to the extreme restrictions it places on game sales. Games from major publishers that receive an AO rating are often 'toned down' in order to gain the lesser rating of M such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Manhunt 2 for having the 'Hot Coffee' mod in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas & for releasing a uncut version of Manhunt 2 for the computer after being edited for other consoles. Companies like Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo all have policies not allowing AO rated games to be licensed on their consoles. This rating is similar to PEGI's 18 (AO level) and ACB's RC.	18	NC-17	High TV-MA

Defunct ratings

Abbr.	Rating	Years Active	Description	Age Suitable	Equivalent Movie Ratings	Equivalent TV Ratings
File:ESRB - K-Av2.svg	Kids to Adults (6+)	1994–1997	These titles will appeal to people of many ages and tastes. Titles in this category may contain minimal violence, some comic mischief (i.e. slapstick and gross-out comedy), or some crude language. Examples are Super Mario 64, Animaniacs, Chessmaster 3D, Monopoly for the PlayStation, Tetris, Croc: Legend of the Gobbos, and for the SEGA Saturn, Sonic 3D Blast. This rating was renamed E for Everyone in 1997.	6	G	TV-G

Rating process

To obtain a rating for a game, a publisher sends the ESRB videotaped footage of the most graphic and extreme content found in the game. The publisher also fills out a questionnaire describing the game's content and pays a fee based on the game's development cost:

• $800 fee for development costs under USD $250k
• $4,000 fee for development costs over $250k

On its website, the ESRB states that three trained raters, working independently, watch the footage and recommend a rating. If all raters agree on the rating, content descriptors are added and the ESRB notifies the publisher of its decision. If there is no consensus, additional raters review the footage and materials, or the majority opinion rules. After the rating is agreed upon, the ESRB in-house personnel review the footage and all materials to ensure that all information is accurate and a certificate is sent to the publisher. However, that decision is not final. If the publisher wishes, they may edit the game and resubmit the footage and questionnaire in order to achieve a lower rating, or appeal the information to a committee made up of entertainment software industry representatives. If this is the case, the process begins anew.

When the game is ready for release, the publisher sends copies of the final version of the game to the ESRB. The game packaging is reviewed, and the ESRB says that its in-house personnel randomly play games to ensure that all the information provided during the rating process was complete and accurate. Penalties may apply to the publisher if it is eventually found, either through the in-house personnel's playing or consumer comments that the game's content is more extreme than the publisher stated in its application.

The identities of the ESRB raters are kept confidential and selected randomly from a pool of full-time ESRB employees who live in the New York City area. According to an ESRB introductory brochure from 1994: "The raters represent a wide range of backgrounds, races, and ages and have no ties to the interactive entertainment industry. Raters include retired school principals, parents, professionals, and other individuals from all walks of life." Raters are supposed to review games as if they were the customer and receiving their first glance at the game. They are then required to take testing before becoming ESRB raters.

Background and history

As video-gaming progressed into the 16-bit era, graphics and sound capabilities were dramatically increased. Blood and gore were much clearer and vibrant than in 8-bit games. For example blood in an 8-bit game may look blocky and pixelated while in 16-bit it can be a fluid graphic that can easily be identified. After the release of games such as Mortal Kombat, Doom, Night Trap and Lethal Enforcers, there was much controversy over video game content. Hearings on video game violence and the corruption of society, headed by Joe Lieberman and Herb Kohl were held in late 1992 to 1993. The result of the hearings was that the entertainment software industry was given one year to form a working rating system or the federal government would intervene and create its own system. Around this time, the Videogame Rating Council (VRC) was formed by Sega of America to rate mostly its own games. In 1993, the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) was formed. Also in 1993, the 3DO Company formed their own rating system for games released on the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer called the 3DO Rating System. In 1994, the Recreational Software Advisory Council (RSAC) was formed by the Software Publishers Association. However, because of some criticisms of both the VRC and the 3DO Rating System, they were phased out in 1994, and the RSAC in 1999. On July 29, 1994 the proposal from the IDSA for a rating system, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) was presented in Congress and approved. In September 1994, the ESRB was established and became the de facto rater of video games in the United States. At this time, many companies who produced computer games such as LucasArts, Sierra On-Line and 3D Realms continued to follow the RSAC system as they were members of the SPA. Eventually, all companies, including 3DO, agreed to follow the ESRB ratings.

Initially, there were five different ratings: Early Childhood, Kids to Adults, Teen, Mature and Adults Only. Shortly thereafter, the Informational and Edutainment descriptors were added. In 1996, the rating icons were altered so that it would be more clear who rated the product (this can be seen in the image of the Mature icon above). On January 1, 1998, the Kids to Adults rating was replaced with Everyone. Also in 1998, the Entertainment Software Rating Board Interactive (ESRBi) was formed which rated websites and online games. In late 1999, in order to make the rating symbols more legible, the pixelated rating icons were replaced with black and white icons. Beginning in early 2001, and continuing for the next couple of years, several of the content descriptors were retired and replaced. Content descriptors with "Animated" or "Realistic" in them had those portions removed. Also, the "Skills" descriptors used for the Early Childhood rating were removed as well. A short time later, the Gaming descriptor was changed to Gambling, which itself was split into Real and Simulated Gambling in the following years.

In mid 2003, the ESRBi was closed down. On June 26, 2003, the content descriptors were made larger and more legible and newer, more thorough descriptors for violence (Cartoon, Fantasy, Intense) were added as well as a descriptor for Mature Humor. Also, the Mature and Adults Only icons had a 17+ and 18+ added to their title band in order to clearly signify the age appropriateness. On March 2, 2005, after conferring with academicians and child development experts; the Everyone 10+ rating was introduced. Originally, raters were hired on a part-time basis; as of April 2007, the ESRB employs raters full-time.

Criticism and controversy

Violence and the AO rating

ESRB has often been accused of not rating games harshly enough for violence and other related themes. Games such as Harvester, Manhunt, Rise of the Triad and Soldier of Fortune have shown gruesome violence, yet received the M rating. Many critics have claimed that these games deserve the AO rating and were given the M for commercial reasons. Rise of the Triad in particular, received the highest violence descriptor: "Wanton and gratuitous violence" from the RSAC, which was mitigated by being rated M by the ESRB. However, in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Ontario, their respective provincial governments classified Soldier of Fortune and Manhunt as motion pictures, and gave them "Restricted" ratings, restricting their sale to adults only. The ESRB has only given out the AO rating solely for violence two times: once for Thrill Kill (which was cancelled after the developer was bought by Electronic Arts) and the second time for Manhunt 2. The Punisher, was not actually officially given the rating though was threatened with it and thus toned down the violence because of it. Manhunt 2 was edited before release in order to qualify for the M category, though a uncut PC version has since been released with an AO rating. Thrill Kill, received an AO rating with content descriptors for Animated Violence and Animated Blood and Gore. It was never released after the original publisher, Virgin Entertainment, was purchased by Electronic Arts who was more concerned about the adult content. The violence in Thrill Kill was a concern to the ESRB as it was sexualized, with sadomasochistic activities.

Critics have claimed that the ESRB will only rate games AO if they have sexual content in them, no matter how much violence is present. Twenty-three products have been given and kept the AO rating. One was given it for unsimulated online gambling. Two were given for violence (see above). The rest were given it for sexual content and/or nudity. One game, Mass Effect featured two mild sexual scenes and was passed as an M, leading to controversy on Fox News Channel. Another, God of War, came with many different sex scenes, some of them interactive, and, unlike Mass Effect, it was not subject to controversies or protests (although they take place off screen). One of the games with "Strong Sexual Content" as a content descriptor also had "Realistic Blood & Gore", Riana Rouge, and another one had "Violence", Critical Point. Critical Point is an eroge, and Riana Rouge has Playboy Playmates in softcore sex scenes which leads some critics to believe that these games were rated AO because of sex, not violence. This criticism is shared with the movie rating systems. Lula 3D contains descriptors for "Blood", "Strong Language" and "Violence" in addition to sexually explicit material. Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Director's Cut also received the AO rating. While the game contains content identical to the original North American version titled Indigo Prophecy ("Blood", "Strong Language", "Use of Drugs and Alcohol" and "Violence"), the only content which was added in the director's cut version was sex scenes with nudity, one of which was interactive. Much like Fahrenheit, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas originally received an M rating but was changed to an AO rating because interactive sex scenes could be accessed in the game. Some critics believed that the ESRB in-house personnel may have overreacted to the attention the game received from the federal government and that the mini-game (which contained no nudity) was not explicit enough to have been re-rated. It should be noted that many adult oriented products, including erotica, have actually received M ratings. For example, The Guy Game and the Leisure Suit Larry series. However, these products are not carried by many major retailers (and many are usually grouped with adult products anyway) because of the sexual content.

Hidden content

Main articles: Hot Coffee minigame controversy and ESRB re-rating of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

In 2005, members of the mod community discovered that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for Windows could be modified to unlock an incomplete sex mini-game known as "Hot Coffee", which Rockstar North had decided to leave out of the final game. California State Assemblyman Leland Yee used the situation to rebuke both Rockstar and the ESRB and argued that the ESRB was not doing its job properly. U.S. Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Joe Lieberman also expressed their disapproval. Rockstar initially claimed that the mini-game was created by the mod community and was not a part of the original game. However, their stance changed when it was discovered that a third-party cheat device could be used to unlock the "Hot Coffee" scenes in console versions of the game. Shortly after, Rockstar conceded that the sex mini-game was in all released versions of the game, albeit inaccessible without third-party modification. The ESRB responded to the controversy by re-evaluating the game and changing its rating from M to AO, setting a precedent that games can be re-rated based on external factors such as third-party cheat devices. Although this made Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas the best selling game to receive an AO rating, Rockstar soon released a patch that disabled the modification on PC versions and re-released the game as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Second Edition. The new release disabled all access to the "Hot Coffee" mini-game and was given the game's original M rating by the ESRB as a result.

In 2006, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion had its rating changed from T to M due to "more detailed depictions of blood and gore than were considered in the original rating, as well as a mod that, if accessed through a third-party modification to the PC version of the game, allows the user to play with topless versions of female characters." The game's publisher decided not to remaster or re-release the game to remove the hidden texture, stating that it believed the original rating was the most accurate assessment of what parents should expect from the game, since the texture was intended to be inaccessible to players. However, this texture was actually only used to provide a non-clipping texture for some armor types.

Rockstar Games' Manhunt 2 was postponed for three months in the United States as well as several other countries and continents due to uncensored relentless violence and gore. The game was given an initial AO rating by the ESRB and received a revised M rating after numerous edits. It was released on October 31, 2007. Less than a week after the release, it was discovered that it was possible to modify the PS2 and PSP versions of the game to erase the patches that censored the violent content. Rockstar Games has since claimed that even with the unauthorized patches that remove some of the screen blurring that many of the scenes were toned down from the original version submitted to the ESRB for rating. Following that, the ESRB chose not to change the game's rating after the drawn-out process of giving it the M rating. Ultimately, a completely uncut and uncensored beta for the PS2 and PSP versions were found by cracking into Manhunt 2, and an AO-rated PC version was released by Rockstar as a download exclusive on November 6, 2009 to the download site, Direct2Drive.com, as virtually all North American retailers refuse to stock AO-rated games.

Similarly, The Punisher was hacked into to allow uncensored kills, and the PC version had patches to remove the filters and intensify the violence.

News leaks

The ESRB typically posts rating information for new titles on its website 30 days after the rating process is complete. This can cause the existence of a title to become public information before the game is officially announced. As a result, the ESRB has implemented a process by which publishers with concerns about this practice can request that information about the game not be posted to the ESRB's website until a specific date.

Blocking content

On March 16, 2006, the ESRB gained, in an agreement with the video game software industry, the ability to restrict video game advertising "to consumers for whom the product is not rated as appropriate." As a result, online retailers like Steam, Xbox Live Marketplace, PlayStation Network, and the Wii Shop Channel ban minors from downloading game demos or trailers for games rated Mature or Rating Pending.

See also

• Federal Communications Commission
• Censorship
• Censorship in the United States
• Motion Picture Association of America film rating system: the United States film industry equivalent to ESRB
• Pan European Game Information (PEGI): used in many European countries, not associated with the European Union
• Television content rating systems
• Video game controversy

International rating systems

• Australia - Australian Classification Board
• Europe (excluding Germany) - Pan European Game Information
• Finland - Valtion elokuvatarkastamo
• Germany - Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle
• Japan - Computer Entertainment Rating Organization
• New Zealand - Office of Film and Literature Classification
• United Kingdom - British Board of Film Classification

External links

• Official website - ESRB.org