Decoding the ESRB

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

The ratings used by the ESRB include:

• Early Childhood - Titles rated EC (Early Childhood) have content that may be suitable for ages 3 and older. Contains no material that parents would find inappropriate.
• Everyone - Titles rated E (Everyone) have content that may be suitable for ages 6 and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language.
• Everyone 10+ - Titles rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) have content that may be suitable for ages 10 and older. Titles in this category may contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes.
• Teen - Titles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language. 
• Mature - Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.
• Adults Only - Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.
• Rating Pending - Titles designated as RP (Rating Pending) have not yet been assigned a final ESRB rating. This icon appears only in advertising, marketing and promotional materials related to a game that is expected to carry an ESRB rating. The RP is replaced by a game's rating once it has been assigned.

The following list of content descriptors is provided by the ESRB. Some descriptors may be prefixed by "mild" or "strong" to indicate the severity of the descriptor if not already prefixed by "strong" such as the strong language descriptor. Additionally, some descriptors in use do not appear on this list such as the edutainment descriptor.

• Alcohol Reference - Reference to and/or images of alcoholic beverages
• Animated Blood - Discolored and/or unrealistic depictions of blood
• Blood - Depictions of blood
• Blood and Gore - Depictions of blood or the mutilation of body parts
• Cartoon Violence - Violent actions involving cartoon-like situations and characters. May include violence where a character is unharmed after the action has been inflicted
• Comic Mischief - Depictions or dialogue involving slapstick or suggestive humor
• Crude Humor - Depictions or dialogue involving vulgar antics, including “bathroom” humor
• Drug Reference - Reference to and/or images of illegal drugs
• 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
• Language - Mild to moderate use of profanity
• Lyrics - Mild references to profanity, sexuality, violence, alcohol or drug use in music
• Mature Humor - Depictions or dialogue involving "adult" humor, including sexual references
• Nudity - Graphic or prolonged depictions of nudity
• Partial Nudity - Brief and/or mild depictions of nudity
• Real Gambling - Player can gamble, including betting or wagering real cash or currency
• Sexual Content - Non-explicit depictions of sexual behavior, possibly including partial nudity
• Sexual Themes - References to sex or sexuality
• Sexual Violence - Depictions of rape or other violent sexual acts
• Simulated Gambling - Player can gamble without betting or wagering real cash or currency
• Strong Language - Explicit and/or frequent use of profanity
• Strong Lyrics - Explicit and/or frequent references to profanity, sex, violence, alcohol or drug use in music
• Strong Sexual Content - Explicit and/or frequent depictions of sexual behavior, possibly including nudity
• Suggestive Themes - Mild provocative references or materials
• Tobacco Reference - Reference to and/or images of tobacco products
• Use of Alcohol - The consumption of alcoholic beverages
• Use of Drugs - The consumption or use of illegal drugs
• Use of Tobacco - The consumption of tobacco products
• Violence - Scenes involving aggressive conflict. May contain bloodless dismemberment
• Violent References - References to violent acts

However, the relationships between descriptors and ratings is not explicit, making such relationships ripe for exploration.

Games rated early childhood are not allowed to contain any of the descriptors. As such, the entire descriptor list provided by the ESRB should be avoided for those creators wanting an early childhood rating for their game.

Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude
Uncut and Uncensored

The descriptors related to substances are somewhat good predictors of rating: games rated everyone may contain the references to alcohol and tobacco descriptors as well as the use of alcohol and tobacco descriptors. Games rated teen may contain the use of alcohol and tobacco descriptors and the drug reference descriptor but not the use of drugs descriptor. Games rated mature may contain the use of drugs descriptor.

The violence descriptors are bad predictors of rating: games rated everyone may contain the comic mischief, cartoon violence, fantasy violence, violent references, and violence descriptors, but are not allowed to contain the intense violence and sexual violence descriptors. There are four ratings above everyone.

The strongest predictors of rating are the sexuality and nudity content descriptors.

Games rated everyone may contian the mild suggestive themes descriptor, but are not allowed to contain the suggestive themes, sexual content, sexual themes, sexual violence, strong sexual content, partial nudity, or nudity descriptor. The suggestive themes descriptor itself contains the word mild, so mild suggestive themes may be indicative of suggestive themes that are milder than mild.

Games rated everyone 10+ may contain the suggestive themes descriptor, but are not allowed to contain the sexual content, sexual themes, sexual violence, strong sexual content, partial nudity, or nudity descriptors.

Games rated teen may contain the partial nudity descriptor, but are not allowed to contain the nudity descriptor, which is reserved for mature and adults only games.

There is no unique descriptor associated with an adults only rating. That is, there are no descriptors associated with an adults only rating that are not allowed to appear in mature-rated games. A possible exception is Riana Rouge, which contains a realistic blood and gore descriptor. Perhaps the prefix realistic was added to the blood and gore descriptor because no intense violence descriptor was available at the time of rating. Another possible exception is the mature sexual themes descriptor given to a non-game: Playboy Screensaver: The Women of Playboy.

Riana Rouge

The ESRB does not make the relationships between content descriptors and ratings explicit. As such, the relationships explored above may or may not endure. However, over the short life of the ESRB, the relationships between ratings and some of the content descriptors, particularly those involving sexuality and nudity, have been predictable.