here . for the european financial agency see european systemic risk board . mature content redirects here . for other uses see pornography . entertainment software rating board 2006 present logo type non profit self regulatory industry organization and rating system predecessor 3do rating system recreational software advisory council videogame rating council founded september 16 1994 ; 22 years ago 1994 09 16 headquarters new york city new york u.s. area served united states canada except quebec and mexico key people patricia vance president ceo website www.esrb.org the entertainment software rating board esrb is a self regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings enforces industry adopted advertising guidelines and ensures responsible online privacy principles for computer and video games in the united states nearly all of canada and mexico . the esrb was established in 1994 by the entertainment software association formerly the interactive digital software association in response to criticism of violent content found in video games such as night trap mortal kombat and other controversial video games with excessively violent or sexual content . the board assigns ratings to games based on their content using judgment similar to the motion picture rating systems used in many countries using a combination of six age based levels intended to aid consumers in determining a game s content and suitability along with a system of content descriptors which detail specific types of content present in a particular game . the esrb maintains a code of ethics for the advertising and promotion of video games ensuring that marketing materials for games are targeted to appropriate audiences . in 2011 the esrb began offering a system to automatically assign ratings for digitally distributed games and mobile apps which utilizes a survey answered by the product s publisher as opposed to a manual assessment by esrb staff . through the international age rating coalition this method can generate equivalent ratings for other territories . the esrb also offers an online privacy certification program for websites and mobile software . the esrb ratings system is effectively a de facto standard because of the collective leverage of the board and the video game industry major console manufacturers will not license games for their systems unless they carry esrb ratings most retail stores enforce esrb ratings and also do not carry any games which are not rated by the organization . the esrb rating system is primarily enforced on a voluntary basis by the video game and retail industry and is not enforced under federal laws in any of the countries where it is actively used however in some parts of canada provincial laws require retailers to enforce the esrb ratings system with enforcement of these laws handled by regional film ratings boards . due to the level of consumer and retail awareness of the ratings system along with the organization s efforts to ensure that retailers comply with the ratings system and that publishers comply with its marketing code the esrb has considered its system to be effective and was praised by the federal trade commission for being the strongest self regulatory organization in the entertainment sector . despite its positive reception the esrb has still faced criticism from politicians and other watchdog groups for the structure of its operations particularly in the wake of a 2005 incident that surrounded the organization s handling of hidden objectionable content in a game which could be accessed using a user created modification . critics of the esrb have asserted that the organization has a conflict of interest because of its vested interest in the video game industry and that the esrb does not rate certain games such as the grand theft auto series harshly enough for their violent or sexual content in order to protect their commercial viability . contrarily other critics have argued that at the same time the esrb rates certain games too strongly for their content and that its influence has stifled the viability of adult oriented video games due to the board s restrictions on how they are marketed and sold . contents 1 history 1.1 background 1.2 formation 1.3 expansion and recent developments 2 rating process 3 ratings 4 enforcement 5 marketing 6 online privacy 7 reception 7.1 ratings accuracy 7.2 adults only rating 7.3 hidden content 8 see also 9 references 10 external links history edit background edit video games with objectionable content date back as far as 1976 ; the arcade game death race an adaptation of the film death race 2000 required users to run over gremlins with a vehicle and avoid the gravestones they leave behind . although its graphics were relatively primitive the game s overall theme and the sound effects made when gremlins were killed were considered disturbing by players prompting media attention . 1 a developer known as mystique became known for making sexually explicit adult video games for the atari 2600 console but garnered the most attention with its controversial 1982 game custer s revenge which infamously featured a crude simulation of the rape of a native american woman . atari received numerous complaints about the game and responded by trying to sue the game s makers . 2 3 a 1983 industry crash caused by the market being overrun with low quality products prompted a higher degree of regulation by future console manufacturers when the nintendo entertainment system nes was launched in the united states in 1985 nintendo of america instituted requirements and restrictions on third party developers including the requirement for all games to be licensed by the company . the console itself also included a lockout chip to enforce this requirement and prevent the console from loading unlicensed games . such leverage on developers has since become a standard practice among console makers although nintendo of america also had stringent content policies frequently censoring blood sexual content and references to religion tobacco and alcohol from games released on its consoles in the united states . 4 5 when asked in 1987 about the suitability of a film like rating system for video games a representative of the software publishers association said that adult computer software is nothing to worry about . it s not an issue that the government wants to spend any time with ... they just got done with a big witchhunt in the music recording industry and they got absolutely nowhere . the association did recommend voluntary warnings for games like leisure suit larry in the land of the lounge lizards 1987 . 6 formation edit video games progression into the 1990s brought dramatic increases in graphics and sound capabilities and the ability to use full motion video fmv content in games . in the united states senate democratic senators joe lieberman of connecticut and herb kohl of wisconsin led hearings on video game violence and the corruption of society which began in 1992 . two games of this era were specifically cited in the hearings for their content ; the fighting game mortal kombat featured realistic digitized sprites of live action actors blood and the ability to use violent fatality moves to finish opponents while night trap featured 90 minutes of fmv content with scenes that were considered to be sexually suggestive and exploitive . 1 7 both nintendo and sega had differing views on objectionable content in video games ; a port of mortal kombat for the super nes was censored to remove the game s overly violent content whereas the port for sega consoles retained much of this content which helped increase sales . 4 8 sega had implemented its own voluntary ratings system the videogame rating council vrc largely to rate games released for its own consoles . mortal kombat and night trap were rated ma 13 and ma 17 on sega s scale respectively . during the hearings howard lincoln and bill white chairmen of nintendo and sega s u.s. divisions respectively attacked each other s stances on objectionable content in video games ; lincoln condemned sega for even releasing night trap and felt it simply has no place in our society while white argued that sega was more responsible to consumers because they actually had a rating system in place rather than a blanket presumption that all its games would be suitable for general audiences . 9 fragmentation would also develop in the classification of games ; the 3do company formed their own age based rating system the 3do rating system for games released on its 3do interactive multiplayer and the recreational software advisory council rsac was formed for rating pc games which used a system consisting of ratings in certain classes of objectionable content but not ages . however lieberman did not believe that these systems were sufficient and in february 1994 threatened to propose the creation of a federal commission for regulating and rating video games . 7 with the threat of federal regulations a group of major video game developers and publishers including acclaim entertainment and electronic arts along with nintendo and sega formed a political trade group known as the interactive digital software association in april 1994 with a goal to create a self regulatory framework for assessing and rating video games . while sega had proposed that the industry use its vrc rating system nintendo representatives objected to the idea because they did not want to associate themselves with the work of their main competitor ; instead a vendor neutral rating system known as the entertainment software rating board esrb was developed . the formation of the esrb was officially announced to congress on july 29 1994 . the esrb was officially launched on september 16 1994 ; its system consisted of five age based ratings ; early childhood kids to adults later renamed everyone in 1998 teen mature and adults only . the esrb would also use descriptors with brief explanations of the content contained in a game . 9 10 expansion and recent developments edit alongside its efforts to classify video games the esrb also formed a division known as entertainment software rating board interactive esrbi which rated internet content using a similar system to its video game ratings . esrbi also notably partnered with the internet service provider america online to integrate these ratings into its existing parental controls . 7 11 12 esrbi was discontinued in 2003 . 13 in 2002 dr. arthur pober the original president of the esrb stepped down so he could focus on academics . in november 2002 he was formally replaced by patrica vance who formerly worked for the princeton review and the walt disney company . 14 15 in march 2005 the esrb introduced a new rating everyone 10 designating games with content of a relatively higher impact than those of games rated everyone but still not high enough to garner a teen rating . 16 17 in response to the growth of smartphone use in november 2011 ctia a group of major u.s. companies representing the wireless industry and esrb announced the co development of a free voluntary ratings process for mobile application stores . the system uses esrb s icons and content descriptors along with three additional icons shares info shares location and users interact to inform users of an app s behavior in regards to data collection and interactions with others . verizon wireless and t mobile us were among the first to implement the system for their own application storefronts and microsoft s windows phone marketplace already supported esrb ratings upon its introduction . 18 19 esrb president patricia vance explained that the partnership was intended to help broaden the esrb s reach into the mobile market and that consumers especially parents benefit from having a consistently applied set of ratings for games rather than a fragmented array of different systems . 20 in november 2012 the esrb and other video game ratings boards including pegi the australian classification board and usk among others established a consortium known as the international age rating