It’s been reported that the indie game turned controversial title Hatred has been given an Adults Only rating by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), which is an non-profit organization that assigns parental ratings to both games and apps alike so that customers can make informed decisions when making a purchase.
One of the staff members behind the development of Hatred (which is being developed by Destructive Creations) has responded to the game’s rating on the official Hatred forums. There, they expressed the bemusement as to why the title was given such a high parental rating, commenting that–while the game does not feature any sexual content–it’s “ some kind of achievement to have the second game in history [get an] AO rating for violence and harsh language only.”
“Even if this violence isn’t really that bad and this harsh language is not overused. The guy from ESRB (by the way – very nice, polite and cooperative one) told me it’s all about ‘the context’ which people they’re testing gameplay video on will see,” the developer added.
According to ESRB, the first game receive an Adults Only rating for violence only was Thrill Kill , which was a 1998 game that got cancelled by Electronic Arts due to the title’s apparently disapproving content. The limitation with an Adults Only rating, the developer believes, is that it’ll be difficult to port the game to consoles should the desire come around in the future. This is because neither of the console giants–Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo–allow for such rated titles to be released or their respective platforms. A Mature rating is what the developer would prefered, but they feel that fans of Hatred would be disappointed the game was rated so.
Hatred is currently going through Steam’s Greenlight, which was taken down and then relisted within the same day. The game isn’t expected to release until the second quarter of this year.
[ Source: Hatred Forums / ESRB / ZDNet ]
[ Via: GameSpot ]