The Division’s Mature Rating Explained by the ESRB

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) released their ratings for a trio of titles today, including Ubisoft’s The Division, which is Mature due to blood, intense violence, and strong language descriptors.

Here’s the ESRB’s reasoning for rating The Division as Mature:

This is a third-person shooter in which players assume the role of a sleeper agent of The Division, a secret government agency designed to respond to major disasters. As players explore urban areas after a bio-terrorism attack, they combat street gangs and militias in realistic tactical fire fights; characters mostly use machine guns, shotguns, turrets, and grenades to kill enemies. Combat is highlighted by realistic gunfire, screams of pain, and large splashes of blood. Several sequences depict corpses, some tied up or hanging from railings, and players must rescue hostages in some levels of the game. Cutscenes occasionally depict bound hostages being stabbed or shot in the head. The words “f**k,” “sh*t,” and “a*shole” appear in the dialogue.

The Division is scheduled to release on March 8, 2016 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. While Ubisoft hasn’t set a date yet, there will be a beta in early 2016.

The Witch and the Hundred Knight: Revival Edition for PlayStation 4, meanwhile, was given a Teen rating for blood, crude humor, language, partial nudity, sexual themes, and violence.

Varying slightly from the PlayStation 3 version’s rating, here’s what the ESRB says about The Witch and the Hundred Knight: Revival Edition:

This is an action role-playing game in which players assume the role of a demon tasked with spreading the influence of a swamp witch. As players explore fantastical forests, they battle a variety of enemies (e.g., demonic flowers, animals) and boss characters. Players use swords and clubs to defeat enemies in frenetic melee combat. Brief splashes of blood occur during combat, and one scene depicts corpses amidst a small pool of blood. The game contains some sexual material and dialogue: a giant, green humanoid creature with exposed breasts; phrases such as “[Y]ou let me fondle and squeeze your boobs for a while,” “I want to make love to her like crazy,” and “How many times have I imagined caressing her body and becoming one with her?” During the course of the game, several characters are comically depicted suffering from diarrhea; one prolonged sequence references the use of a suppository. The words “sh*t” and “a*shole” appear in dialogue.

The Witch and the Hundred Knight: Revival Edition will be available on March 1, 2016 in North America and March 4, 2016 in Europe for PS4.

Finally, Trackmania Turbo was rated Everyone. It’s expected to launch in early 2016 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

[Source: ESRB (1), (2), (3) via Wario64]

TRENDING