This has been discussed before, but now that the game is complete Bethesda should know what the ESRB rating will be. It is, however, still listed as "Pending" everywhere I've found.

If they've kept to the spirit of the previous games it should be rated M, which I believe Fallout 4 will also be. Secretly I'm hoping for A, though. What do y'all think?

It's going to be M. It was always going to be M. Nothing about it is not M.

...and I have no understanding of why anyone would would think any AAA company would release an AO game, thereby destroying their ability to sell their game in chain stores. Or what they think the game could possibly have that would make it AO.

consider most devs and publishers want a A rating as much as a kick to the groin, yeah its gonna be a mature rating, which is fine by me.

Hmm.. not sure. What would cause it to go from M to A?

Based on a quick search at ESRB? porm. Or extreme cruelty & violence (Manhunt 2, Hatred).

You means Bloody Mess is not violent enough?

its more about sadistic violence, so blowing someone into chuncks is M, having a long, cruel torture scene is A

edit: especially if said scene is intractable and part of a games "entertainment"

Yeah, the extreme cruelty bit could potentially mean more gore, and really effed up Raiders. In FO3 the bodies hanging on the walls, crucifixion etc was probably on the limit of what M would allow. A lot of insinuation in regards to prostitution, [censored] and such.

I can see an A rating adding some things that would be suitable for a real dark post-apocalypse, making it really nasty, but as you guys all say, not very likely. In order to sell they'll need to rate it M. Which means Skyrim in the Wasteland.

*deleted nevermind*

Personally, I can't even watch most of the fatality clips from the (M-rated) Mortal Kombat X. Considering that I'd like to actually play & enjoy Fallout 4? I'm glad that Beth isn't the kind of "hur hur, let's Outrage The Squares for Sensationalism!" dev who goes out for AO-rated filth.

Ahh.. Well, I don't mind nudity, but I really don't want porm in my video game. I mean, not that it couldn't be an option I just don't see the need for it. I'm sure some company will put it in a AAA title eventually. If for nothing more than to create shock value and generate controversy. Stuff like that is pretty effective viral advertising.

Edit: I'm not sure how much gorier Fallout can get. Exploding heads seems pretty extreme.

So by just having naked character but no long [censored] scene is M?

The six scenes in Witcher 3 are probably the limit of what the M rating will allow in that regard.

No chance of an AO rating. That would kill the game on arrival, as Microsoft, Sony, and Steam would refuse to sell it on their platforms. Not to mention the refusal of all retail stores in general to put it on their shelves.

Anyway the ESRB is way more lenient than it used to be, with nudity in general being accepted and extreme violence as well. The AO rating is rarely given out nowadays.

Well, there can be a whole range of "exploding head".... from barely-visible in a cel-shaded cartoony game, to Fallout 3-style (vague "chunks", no detail), to.... oh, maybe a long drawn out scene where your character hacks someone's head open as they scream in pain, showing Grey's Anatomy level detail, and then shoving a stick of dynamite in, etc..... well, you get the idea.

All of them "exploding head", but ranging from T to M to Oh God No.

Avoiding the auto censor is a warnable offense, as some of you already know from experience. A couple of posts edited.

Some of the quests in the previous installations were pretty nasty in their description, but you never saw any of it, so there's definitely an intent for the Fallout universe to be really nasty with torture, dismemberment, cannibalism, etc. The little we've seen so far looks more like a walk in the park with a sad family-torn-apart story behind it. I'm just hoping it hasn't turned into a Disney movie, that's all.

It won't be AO, and thank goodness for that. I have no interest in sadism or torture. If anything, the tone of Fallout 4 looks to be lighter than 3, which I am perfectly fine with. I'm all for being vaguely unsettled a-la the music vault or Fallout NV's sacrifice someone once a year vault, but frankly Fallout 3 was just too depressing in tone.

I think 3 was perfectly dark and somber and I wouldn't want it to be any lighter than that. I'd prefer it go in the other direction.

What we've seen so far looks like Fallout 3 to me, just with newer graphics. The combat clip looked very similar to Fallout 3's combat. And the demo of the game's beginning/tutorial? FO3's tutorial level isn't amazingly dark/violent/gory, either. (sad family, grew up in a boring vault, gotta find dad)

edit: just because this game doesn't wash out all the colors with a green/desaturation filter, doesn't mean the game is going to be Happy Fun Time.

Haha, true. I'm replaying FO3 right now, and it totally feels like a really effed up place, which is awesome. I literally fear for my life every time I leave a protected area, which is a nice little adrenaline rush =)

Well I can't imagine what kind of gore could be added to a game to make it AO for gore. I'm not sure that's even considered anymore for AO. Hatred got AO I believe for the violence which was just senseless in every way. So maybe if we can finally kill children in FO we'll get a AO rating ... maybe. Of course if you have graphic six it's AO (in NA at least).

Honestly I don't think that AO is needed or desired (at least by me personally). I'm good with just M.

Ever see a movie trailer that included each and every reason to see the film? (It's usually a bad sign.)

I would bet that last line in the demo was there specifically to inform that it was a rated M title; but I would also bet that that line (and a few similar lines) are the only reasons for the M rating.

Just like the weather forecast for the Capitol Wasteland: excessively violent, with a chance of dismemberment.

six is not porm.

Also, there is no agreed upon definition of what is "pormographic" and what is not. Even the Supreme Court of the United States cannot define "pormographic" content in a way that is understood and applicable by anyone, including other lawyers. Even if they could, it would not be universal. There was a famous statement about "porm" by one justice: "I know it when I see it". That sums up the problem. It's a totally subjective opinion.

By the way, I have dealt with the ESRB and their rating system, including the AO rating, in my professional career as well as my academic research. There are a lot of arbitrary decisions and the ESRB staff is very small considering the size of the gaming industry. You might get an AO rating for having one too many swear words, very similar to how the MPAA has specific and arbitrary restrictions on language for ratings of Hollywood movies. Regardless, ESRB is simply a body of people to self-regulate the gaming industry in America in order to prevent politicians from getting involved and forcing their own views on a creative art form. It gave rise to similar organizations in other countries, even Japan where such a thing was never even considered a couple of decades ago. Basically, any of these organizations are merely forms of censorship disguised as a "service". Censorship by the government or censorship by an industry, it does not matter. Censorship is censorship, and any censorship stifles creative expression.

@Gizmo:

No, the entire presentation showed extreme violence that would qualify FO4 for an M rating by the ESRB. The language would be secondary compared to the constant stream of extreme and graphic violence. For anyone wondering, BGS simply has to wait for the official designation from ESRB even if they already know what their game will be rated based on their own prior experience with the organization.

By the way, there are markets where violence is far more of a concern than explicit nudity or sixuality. Different cultures have different mores. The problem, of course, is that any specific more for one person in a certain culture may not be a more for another, especially in today's world where people easily communicate globally and can choose from a very wide variety of cultural elements that they find appealing or unappealing.