ESRB Ratings Guides, Categories, Content Descriptors (2024)

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RATING CATEGORIES
CONTENT DESCRIPTORS
INTERACTIVE ELEMENTS
RATING SUMMARIES

Rating Categories

Rating Categories suggest age appropriateness.

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Everyone

Content is generally suitable for all ages. May contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language.

Everyone 10+

Content is generally suitable for ages 10 and up. May contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes.

Teen

Content is generally suitable for ages 13 and up. May contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling and/or infrequent use of strong language.

Mature 17+

Content is generally suitable for ages 17 and up. May contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.

Adults Only 18+

Content suitable only for adults ages 18 and up. May include prolonged scenes of intense violence, graphic sexual content and/or gambling with real currency.

Rating Pending

Not yet assigned a final ESRB rating. Appears only in advertising, marketing and promotional materials related to a physical (e.g., boxed) video game that is expected to carry an ESRB rating, and should be replaced by a game's rating once it has been assigned.

Rating Pending — Likely Mature 17+

Not yet assigned a final ESRB rating but anticipated to be rated Mature 17+. Appears only in advertising, marketing, and promotional materials related to a physical (e.g., boxed) video game that is expected to carry an ESRB rating, and should be replaced by a game’s rating once it has been assigned.

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Content Descriptors

Content Descriptors indicate content that may have triggered a particular rating and/or may be of interest or concern.

All Content
Substances
Blood/Gore
Humor
Violence
Gambling
Language
Nudity
Sexuality

Alcohol Reference

Reference to and/or images of alcoholic beverages

Blood

Depictions of blood

Comic Mischief

Depictions or dialogue involving slapstick or suggestive humor

Drug Reference

Reference to and/or images of illegal drugs

Gambling Themes

Prominently featured images or activities that are typically associated with real-world gambling even if they are not directly simulating a gambling experience

Language

Mild to moderate use of profanity

Mature Humor

Depictions or dialogue involving "adult" humor, including sexual references

Partial Nudity

Brief and/or mild depictions of nudity

Sexual Content

Non-explicit depictions of sexual behavior, possibly including partial nudity

Sexual Violence

Depictions of rape or other violent sexual acts

Strong Language

Explicit and/or frequent use of profanity

Strong Sexual Content

Explicit and/or frequent depictions of sexual behavior, possibly including nudity

Tobacco Reference

Reference to and/or images of tobacco products

Use of Drugs

The consumption or use of illegal drugs

Violence

Scenes involving aggressive conflict. May contain bloodless dismemberment.

Animated Blood

Discolored and/or unrealistic depictions of blood

Blood and Gore

Depictions of blood or the mutilation of body parts

Crude Humor

Depictions or dialogue involving vulgar antics, including "bathroom" humor

Fantasy Violence

Violent actions of a fantasy nature, involving human or non-human characters in situations easily distinguishable from real life

Intense Violence

Graphic and realistic-looking depictions of physical conflict. May involve extreme and/or realistic blood, gore, weapons and depictions of human injury and death.

Lyrics

Mild references to profanity, sexuality, violence, alcohol or drug use in music

Nudity

Graphic or prolonged depictions of nudity

Real Gambling

Player can gamble, including betting or wagering real cash or currency

Sexual Themes

References to sex or sexuality

Interactive Elements

Interactive Elements highlight interactive or online features that may be of interest or concern but do not influence the rating assignment of a product. This includes users' ability to interact with each other, the sharing of users' location with other users, if purchases of digital goods or services are offered, and/or if unrestricted internet access is provided.

In-Game Purchases

Contains in-game offers to purchase digital goods or premiums with real world currency, including but not limited to bonus levels, skins, music, virtual coins and other forms of in-game currency, subscriptions, season passes and upgrades (e.g., to disable ads).

In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)

Contains in-game offers to purchase digital goods or premiums with real world currency (or with virtual coins or other forms of in-game currency that can be purchased with real world currency) for which the player doesn’t know prior to purchase the specific digital goods or premiums they will be receiving (e.g., loot boxes, item packs, mystery awards).

Users Interact

Indicates possible exposure to unfiltered/uncensored user-generated content, including user-to-user communications and media sharing via social media and networks

Shares Location

Includes the ability to display the user’s location to other users of the app

Unrestricted Internet

Provides unrestricted access to the internet (e.g., browser, search engine)

Online Music Not Rated by the ESRB– Warns that songs that are streamed or downloaded as add-ons for music-based games have not been rated and that their content has not been considered in the ESRB rating assignment.

ESRB Ratings Criteria for Non-Game Apps:

The ESRB Rating Guide and all search results on ESRB.org refer to games rated through our traditional rating process. However, ESRB also assigns ratings to non-game apps on certain mobile and digital storefronts that have licensed the IARC rating system. For insight into some of the criteria ESRB uses to rate non-game apps, click here.

Rating Summaries

Rating Summaries are assigned to many physical games and provide more detailed information about the content in a game and its context. You can find rating summaries when you conduct a ratings search on this site or download the free ESRB Rating Search App.

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ESRB Ratings Guides, Categories, Content Descriptors (2024)

FAQs

What is an ESRB content descriptor? ›

About the ESRB

Content Descriptors indicate content that may have triggered a particular rating and/or may be of interest or concern. Learn More About Ratings. Interactive Elements highlight interactive or online features that may be of interest or concern but do not influence the rating assignment of a product.

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How are ESRB ratings determined? ›

ESRB ratings for physical (boxed) video games are based on the consensus of at least three specially trained raters who collectively assess a game's content and deliberate about what rating should be assigned to a game.

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Are ESRB ratings legal? ›

The ESRB is officially recognized, implemented and used in Canada, Mexico and the United States. The ESRB ratings system is recognized by law in several Canadian provinces, primarily by restricting the sale of "Mature" and "Adults Only"-rated games to those who are not appropriately aged.

What is everyone content rated by ESRB? ›

Titles rated E (Everyone) have content that may be suitable for all ages. Titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language.

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What are content descriptors? ›

Content descriptions describe what is to be taught and what students are expected to learn. Content descriptions include knowledge, understanding and skills, described at a year level or band of years.

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What is the most common ESRB rating? ›

The E for Everyone rating was assigned more than any other rating category in 2022. This has been the case every year since ESRB opened in 1994, but it's not quite as common that E for Everyone accounts for half of all rating assignments for physical games and console downloadable games in a year.

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What is the lowest ESRB rating? ›

The ESRB has 5 game ratings and one place holder. The ratings are E for Everyone, E10 for Everyone 10 and older, T for Teen, M for Mature, AO for Adults Only, and RP for Rating Pending. From there, ESRB has about 30 descriptors that tells you what the game contains in general.

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What is the ESRB adult rating? ›

AO is the highest rating in the ESRB system, and indicates the game's content is suitable only for players aged 18 years and over. The majority of AO-rated games are adult video games, typically those with p*rnographic or strong sexual content.

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What is the point of the ESRB? ›

About ESRB. We are the non-profit, self-regulatory body for the video game industry. Established in 1994, our primary responsibility is to help consumers – especially parents – make informed choices about the games their families play.

Who controls the ESRB? ›

Vance. Patricia E. Vance is the president of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB).

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What are the fines for ESRB? ›

ESRB has an enforcement system which allows for the imposition of sanctions, fines (including fines up to $1 million), and corrective actions on publishers for non-compliance with its guidelines.

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What counts as suggestive? ›

Sexual suggestiveness may also involve nudity, or the exposure of the nipples, genitals, buttocks or other taboo areas of the body. Even a brand name or phrase can be considered to be sexually suggestive if it has strong sexual connotations or undertones.

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What are suggestive themes in ESRB? ›

Suggestive Themes - Mild provocative references or materials. Tobacco Reference - Reference to and/or images of tobacco products.

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What is bigger than rated R? ›

NC-17. The NC-17 rating is the highest rating (even higher than the R-rating) that a film can be given, and it means the movie is for adults only (ages 18 and older) and no one age 17 or younger will be admitted. This rating, prior to 1990, was previously rated X.

What does M rated content mean? ›

Mature (M)

Films and computer games classified M (Mature) are not recommended for children under the age of 15. They can have content such as violence and themes that requires a mature outlook.

Is ESRB facial recognition real? ›

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has rejected a proposal by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) and its partners to use “facial age estimation” technology, which the ESRB suggested could make it easier to prevent children from buying inappropriate games by circumventing age verification systems.

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What is E rated content? ›

Titles rated E – Everyone have content that may be suitable for persons ages six and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal violence, some comic mischief and/or mild language.