Opinion: ESRB effectiveness a matter of consistency and attention

Two things are important with video game ratings: who rates games and who pays attention to them. The “who rates games” is the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) and similar boards across the world. Quite simply, they are there to think of the children so you don’t have to.

If the ESRB and similar rating companies think that user-generated content would be enough to change a game’s rating, those organizations negate their own credibility by flip-flopping a rating for content not even made by the game company. That could hinder both some gamers and all developers in fulfilling their purpose in the industry.

The other problem with the ratings is that no one pays attention to them. If someone is too young to get a popular game, they end up running to the parents. The parents quite often don’t check things out before buying them, then start complaining when violence or sexuality pops up in a game. Even with full bans…