by Carmen Schwierking
The ESRB has rated the highly controversial game Hatred as “Adults Only.”
The Entertainment Software Ratings Board, ESRB, during their history of rating almost every video game ever have only given the rating “AO” 28 times. The most well-known of these games is Grand Theft Auto: San Andres after several interactive sexual intercourse mini-games were found with a game mod.
One of Hatred‘s developers said on the official forum “Well, I'm not quite convinced why Hatred got AO rating while it lacks any sexual content, but it's still some kind of achievement to have the second game in history getting AO rating for violence and harsh language only.” Hatred is being promoted as a “genocide crusade” so this rating might be deserved.
An ESRB spokesperson told us "Based on the content depicted in Hatred and the overall context of the game, ESRB assigned an AO (Adults Only) rating with content descriptors that include Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, and Strong Language. We believe the rating and content descriptors provide appropriate guidance about this title so that parents and other consumers can make an informed decision."
An “AO” rating is seen as a “kiss of death” in the gaming industry as many stores refuse to even sell games with that rating. Time will show how much this affects game sales.
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Source: Polygon
Image: Forbes