Saturday, May 06, 2006

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Rating Change


This came out of the blue: The ESRB has ordered Bethesda Softworks to change the rating of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for the Xbox 360 and PC from Teen to Mature, due to potential partial nudity and intense blood and violence featured in the game. Bethesda has commented on this sudden change with a press release here.

The ESRB has concluded that the game deserves a rating of Mature because: 1) partial nudity in the PC version of the game can be created by modders; and 2) the game contains excessive blood and gore that go beyond a Teen rating.

So basically, if you read the press release, you'll learn that the ESRB decided to up the game's rating because third party modders can create topless female models in the PC version of the game; something Bethesda and its publisher has no direct control over. Way to slap a good development company for something that isn't even their fault, ESRB.

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