ESRB Issues Changes for Marketing of Mature Games

The ESRB has issues a new bevy of changes for the marketing of games rated “M” for Mature. Some of these allow for more open marketing of an M-rated game, including cutting trailers or videos for general audiences and no longer requiring an age-gate when viewing said videos online.

Of course, these same trailers must be sent to the ESRB for pre-approval. Also, when cross selling products aka bundling an exclusive demo for a game with another, an M-rated game may be bundled with a lesser-rated game but only after explicit approval from the ESRB. This is to insure that games being cross-sold “have the same intended audience”.

Finally, with Mature demos, a four second warning regarding the game’s content matter is no longer needed. Instead, the rating must be prominently featured on the demo’s download page. Also, ratings from other organizations cannot be displayed side-by-side with ESRB ratings (this includes Europe’s PEGI system).

Thoughts on the changes?

Source: GiantBomb