rating category breakdown | ESRB Ratings https://www.esrb.org/tag/rating-category-breakdown/ Provides ratings for video games and apps, including age ratings, content descriptors and interactive elements. Fri, 19 Jul 2024 16:07:34 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.1 https://www.esrb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/cropped-Favicon.png rating category breakdown | ESRB Ratings https://www.esrb.org/tag/rating-category-breakdown/ 32 32 E for Everyone Was the Most-Assigned Age Rating in 2023 https://www.esrb.org/blog/e-for-everyone-was-the-most-assigned-age-rating-in-2023/ Wed, 17 Jan 2024 15:02:34 +0000 https://www.esrb.org/?p=5801 Continuing an ongoing trend, E for Everyone was the most frequently assigned rating category in 2023. If you’re familiar with these stats from previous years, this should come as no surprise, but it’s always interesting to see how many new games are age appropriate for everyone in the family on a yearly basis. Check out […]

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]]> Continuing an ongoing trend, E for Everyone was the most frequently assigned rating category in 2023. If you’re familiar with these stats from previous years, this should come as no surprise, but it’s always interesting to see how many new games are age appropriate for everyone in the family on a yearly basis. Check out our Rating Category Breakdown to see more stats about how often each Rating Category was assigned to the more than 4,000 rating assignments in 2023.

A pie chart depicting ESRB's Rating Category Breakdown for physical and console downloadable video games. E for Everyone was assigned to 47% of the time. E10+ for Everyone 10+ was assigned to 17%. T for Teen was assigned to 23%. M for Mature was assigned to 13%.

E (Everyone)

47% of all ratings assigned to physical and console downloadable games in 2023 were E for Everyone. This shows that there are nearly two thousand new video game options that may be appropriate for your whole family!

E10+ (Everyone 10+)

In 2023, Everyone 10+ was assigned 17% of the time, which is identical to 2022. This means that more than 60% of the new games released throughout the year may be appropriate for your 10-year-old!

T (Teen 13+)

23% of ratings assigned were for T for Teen last year – a slight increase from 2022. Combined with E and E10+, almost 9 out of 10 ratings assigned to physical and console downloadable games released in 2023 are appropriate for your teenager.

M (Mature 17+)

As is the same every year, M for Mature was assigned the least frequently in 2023, with 13% of rating assignments (up 1% from 2022).

No one knows your kids better than you!

Rating Categories are a great first step to understanding what’s in a game before buying or downloading it for your kids. But like most things in life, context matters! Fortunately, ESRB provides even more information to help you decide what’s appropriate for your family at a glance. ESRB also assigns Content Descriptors to indicate why a game was assigned a specific rating and/or what parents might want to know about. This includes terms and phrases to let you know if a game includes content like language, crude humor, violence, and more. ESRB also assigns Interactive Elements, which let you know if a game includes features like the ability to communicate with others online or offers to make in-game purchases. And if you still want more information, you can also consult our rating summaries, which are available for all physical games by title search on our website and mobile app.

Beyond the ratings, there are so many other resources at your disposal to help manage your kids’ video game experiences. In fact, parents say picking up the controller, checking the ratings, and talking with other parents are the most popular ways to help determine if a game is OK for their kids to play.

Remember: No one knows your kids better than you! Sometimes a younger child may be ready for a T-rated game, and other times a 14-year-old may need some more time. ESRB is here to help provide you with tips to help you make (and back up!) those decisions while maintaining some peace of mind. For more information on what you can do to keep you kids’ video game experiences positive, visit our Family Gaming Guide – a comprehensive, user-friendly guide that provides tips for picking appropriate games, managing online communications, establishing household rules, setting up child accounts and parental controls, and more!

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]]> E for Everyone Was the Most-Assigned Age Rating in 2023 https://www.esrb.org/blog/e-for-everyone-was-the-most-assigned-age-rating-in-2023/ Wed, 17 Jan 2024 15:02:34 +0000 https://www.esrb.org/?p=5801 Continuing an ongoing trend, E for Everyone was the most frequently assigned rating category in 2023. If you’re familiar with these stats from previous years, this should come as no surprise, but it’s always interesting to see how many new games are age appropriate for everyone in the family on a yearly basis. Check out […]

The post E for Everyone Was the Most-Assigned Age Rating in 2023 appeared first on ESRB Ratings.

]]> Continuing an ongoing trend, E for Everyone was the most frequently assigned rating category in 2023. If you’re familiar with these stats from previous years, this should come as no surprise, but it’s always interesting to see how many new games are age appropriate for everyone in the family on a yearly basis. Check out our Rating Category Breakdown to see more stats about how often each Rating Category was assigned to the more than 4,000 rating assignments in 2023.

A pie chart depicting ESRB's Rating Category Breakdown for physical and console downloadable video games. E for Everyone was assigned to 47% of the time. E10+ for Everyone 10+ was assigned to 17%. T for Teen was assigned to 23%. M for Mature was assigned to 13%.

E (Everyone)

47% of all ratings assigned to physical and console downloadable games in 2023 were E for Everyone. This shows that there are nearly two thousand new video game options that may be appropriate for your whole family!

E10+ (Everyone 10+)

In 2023, Everyone 10+ was assigned 17% of the time, which is identical to 2022. This means that more than 60% of the new games released throughout the year may be appropriate for your 10-year-old!

T (Teen 13+)

23% of ratings assigned were for T for Teen last year – a slight increase from 2022. Combined with E and E10+, almost 9 out of 10 ratings assigned to physical and console downloadable games released in 2023 are appropriate for your teenager.

M (Mature 17+)

As is the same every year, M for Mature was assigned the least frequently in 2023, with 13% of rating assignments (up 1% from 2022).

No one knows your kids better than you!

Rating Categories are a great first step to understanding what’s in a game before buying or downloading it for your kids. But like most things in life, context matters! Fortunately, ESRB provides even more information to help you decide what’s appropriate for your family at a glance. ESRB also assigns Content Descriptors to indicate why a game was assigned a specific rating and/or what parents might want to know about. This includes terms and phrases to let you know if a game includes content like language, crude humor, violence, and more. ESRB also assigns Interactive Elements, which let you know if a game includes features like the ability to communicate with others online or offers to make in-game purchases. And if you still want more information, you can also consult our rating summaries, which are available for all physical games by title search on our website and mobile app.

Beyond the ratings, there are so many other resources at your disposal to help manage your kids’ video game experiences. In fact, parents say picking up the controller, checking the ratings, and talking with other parents are the most popular ways to help determine if a game is OK for their kids to play.

Remember: No one knows your kids better than you! Sometimes a younger child may be ready for a T-rated game, and other times a 14-year-old may need some more time. ESRB is here to help provide you with tips to help you make (and back up!) those decisions while maintaining some peace of mind. For more information on what you can do to keep you kids’ video game experiences positive, visit our Family Gaming Guide – a comprehensive, user-friendly guide that provides tips for picking appropriate games, managing online communications, establishing household rules, setting up child accounts and parental controls, and more!

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]]> Half of All ESRB Ratings Assigned in 2022 Were E for Everyone https://www.esrb.org/blog/half-of-all-esrb-ratings-assigned-in-2022-were-e-for-everyone/ Tue, 28 Feb 2023 15:15:25 +0000 https://www.esrb.org/?p=5428 The E for Everyone rating was assigned more than any other rating category in 2022. This has been the case every year since ESRB opened in 1994, but it’s not quite as common that E for Everyone accounts for half of all rating assignments for physical games and console downloadable games in a year. Check […]

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]]> The E for Everyone rating was assigned more than any other rating category in 2022. This has been the case every year since ESRB opened in 1994, but it’s not quite as common that E for Everyone accounts for half of all rating assignments for physical games and console downloadable games in a year. Check out our Rating Category Breakdown to see what portion each Rating Category represents of the more than 4,800 ratings assigned in 2022.

ESRB's 2022 rating category breakdown. Out of 4,868 physical and consoled downloadable games: 50% were rated E for Everyone 17% were rated E10+ for Everyone 10+ 21% were rated T for Teen 12% were rated M for Mature

E (Everyone)

50% of all ratings assigned to physical and console downloadable games in 2022 were for E for Everyone. Families with kids of all ages have thousands of options to choose from when looking for games that are appropriate for the whole family.

E10+ (Everyone 10+)

Everyone 10+ was assigned 17% of the time in 2022, just 1% more than the numbers in 2021. Combined with all the games rated E for Everyone, your 10-year-old has even more age-appropriate games to choose from than last year.

T (Teen 13+)

21% of ratings assigned were for T for Teen in 2022, 1% down from what we saw in 2021. Combined with E and E10+, almost 9 out of 10 ratings assigned to physical and console downloadable games released in 2022 are appropriate for your teenager.

M (Mature 17+)

M for Mature 17+ was assigned least frequently in 2022, with 12% of rating assignments.

Rating Categories are a great first step to understanding what’s in a game before buying or downloading for your kids. But ESRB provides even more information to help you decide what’s appropriate for your family. ESRB also assigns Content Descriptors to indicate why a game was assigned a specific rating, and Interactive Elements to highlight interactive or online features that may be of interest, such as online communications with other players and in-game purchases. If you’re still up in the air, you can also consult our rating summaries, which are available by title search on our website and mobile app.

And there are tons of resources beyond ESRB-assigned age and content ratings. In fact, many parents tell us that they’re picking up the controller more and more often to determine if a game is OK for their kids. You can also look up gameplay videos, research on social media, and talk to other parents to get a good idea of what’s in a game.

But always remember that no one knows your kids better than you! Sometimes a younger child may be ready for a T-rated game, and other times a 14-year-old may need some more time. ESRB is here to help provide you with the tips and information you need to make those decisions while maintaining some peace of mind. For more information on what you can do to keep you kids’ video game experiences positive visit our Family Gaming Guide – a comprehensive, user-friendly guide that provides tips for picking appropriate games, managing online communications, establishing household rules, setting up child accounts and parental controls, and more!

The post Half of All ESRB Ratings Assigned in 2022 Were E for Everyone appeared first on ESRB Ratings.

]]> Half of All ESRB Ratings Assigned in 2021 Were E for Everyone https://www.esrb.org/blog/half-of-all-esrb-ratings-assigned-in-2021-were-e-for-everyone/ Fri, 25 Feb 2022 15:07:15 +0000 https://www.esrb.org/?p=4689 It should come as no surprise that in 2021 more games were assigned the E for Everyone rating than any other rating category. This has been the case every year since ESRB started assigning ratings, but in 2021 E for Everyone ratings accounted for half of all rating assignments for physical games and console downloadable […]

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]]> It should come as no surprise that in 2021 more games were assigned the E for Everyone rating than any other rating category. This has been the case every year since ESRB started assigning ratings, but in 2021 E for Everyone ratings accounted for half of all rating assignments for physical games and console downloadable games. Check out our Rating Category Breakdown to see what portion each Rating Category represents of the more than 4,800 ratings assigned in 2021.

Pie chart outlining ESRB-assigned age ratings for physical and downloadable games in 2021

E (Everyone)

50% of all ratings assigned to physical and console downloadable games in 2021 were for E for Everyone. This means that families have literally thousands of choices of games that are appropriate for the whole family!

E10+ (Everyone 10+)

Just like in 2020, Everyone 10+ was assigned 16% of the time in 2021. Combined with all of the games rated E for Everyone, your 10-year-old has even more age-appropriate games to choose from than last year!

T (Teen 13+)

22% of ratings assigned were for T for Teen in 2021. Combined with E and E10+, almost 9 out of 10 ratings assigned to physical and console downloadable games released in 2021 are appropriate for your teenager!

M (Mature 17+)

Like in years past, M for Mature 17+ was the least common rating in 2021 with 12% of rating assignments.

Rating Categories are a great first step to understanding what’s in a game before buying or downloading for your kids. But remember that it’s just one part of the equation! ESRB also assigns Content Descriptors to indicate why a game was assigned a specific rating, and Interactive Elements to highlight interactive or online features that may be of interest, such as online communications with other players and in-game purchases.  And if you have any remaining questions, you can always consult our rating summaries, which are available by title search on our website and mobile app.

Family Gaming Guide Logo

It’s also worth keeping in mind that no one knows your kids better than you. Sometimes your younger one may be ready for a T-rated game, and other times your 14-year-old may need some more time. ESRB is here to help provide you with the tips and information you need to make those decisions while maintaining some peace of mind. For more information on what you can do to keep you kids’ video game experiences positive visit our Family Gaming Guide – a comprehensive, user-friendly guide that provides tips for picking appropriate games, managing online communications, establishing household rules, setting up child accounts and parental controls, and more!

The post Half of All ESRB Ratings Assigned in 2021 Were E for Everyone appeared first on ESRB Ratings.

]]> E for Everyone Continues to be Most Frequently Assigned Video Game Rating https://www.esrb.org/blog/e-for-everyone-continues-to-be-most-frequently-assigned-video-game-rating/ Fri, 19 Feb 2021 15:05:39 +0000 https://www.esrb.org/?p=4069 In 2020, more video games were assigned the E for Everyone rating than any other Rating Category. While this is the case every year, in 2020 more physical and console downloadable video games were E-rated than 2018 or 2019! Check out the chart below to see what portion each Rating Category represents of the more […]

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]]> In 2020, more video games were assigned the E for Everyone rating than any other Rating Category. While this is the case every year, in 2020 more physical and console downloadable video games were E-rated than 2018 or 2019! Check out the chart below to see what portion each Rating Category represents of the more than 4,200 ratings assigned in 2020.

ESRB Rating Category Breakdown, 2020. 4,201 ratings assigned. ESRB blog post.

E (Everyone)

49% of all physical and console downloadable games in 2020 were rated E for Everyone. This means about 2,058 games released in 2020 were (and are) suitable for the whole family!

E10+ (Everyone 10+)

Everyone 10+ was assigned to 16% of the games released in 2020. Your 10-year-old had almost 2,730 age-appropriate games to choose from last year!

T (Teen 13+)

21% of games were assigned T for Teen in 2020. Combined with E and E10+, 86% (about 3,612) of physical and console downloadable games in 2020 are appropriate for your teenager!

M (Mature 17+)

Like years past, M for Mature 17+ was the least common rating in 2020 with 14% (about 588) receiving this rating assignment.

Remember that the Rating Category is only one part of the equation. ESRB also assigns Content Descriptors to indicate why a game was assigned a specific rating, and Interactive Elements to highlight interactive or online features that may be of interest, such as online communications with other players and in-game purchases. While ESRB age and content ratings are a great way to see what’s in a game before you buy or download, we know that that every kid is different. Sometimes your younger one may be ready for a T-rated game, and other times your 14-year-old may need some more time. No one knows better than you, but ESRB is here to help parents make those decisions.

If you find that you need more information about a game, take a look at the rating summaries available on ESRB.org and our free rating search app. You can also use our step-by-step parental control guides to make sure you kids’ video game experiences stay age appropriate. Even when you’re not around.

The post E for Everyone Continues to be Most Frequently Assigned Video Game Rating appeared first on ESRB Ratings.

]]> E for Everyone is the Rating Category Most Frequently Assigned by ESRB https://www.esrb.org/blog/e-for-everyone-is-the-rating-category-most-frequently-assigned-by-esrb/ Thu, 02 Apr 2020 20:03:14 +0000 https://www.esrb.org/?p=2652 In 2019, as in every previous year, the E for Everyone Rating Category continues to be the most frequent rating assigned by the ESRB according to our Rating Category Breakdown. Check out the chart below to see what portion each Rating Category represents of the more than 4,000 ratings that we assigned last year.  We […]

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]]> In 2019, as in every previous year, the E for Everyone Rating Category continues to be the most frequent rating assigned by the ESRB according to our Rating Category Breakdown. Check out the chart below to see what portion each Rating Category represents of the more than 4,000 ratings that we assigned last year.  We think you may be surprised!

ESRB Ratings Assigned in 2019

2019 Rating Category Breakdown

E (Everyone)

45% of all physical and console downloadable games in 2019 were rated E for Everyone. This means more than 1,815 games in 2019 were (and are) suitable for the whole family!

E10+ (Everyone 10+)

The Everyone 10 + rating was assigned to 14% of the games in 2019. Your 10-year-old was age appropriate for almost 2,380 games last year!

T (Teen)

28% of games were assigned the T for Teen rating in 2019. Combined with E and E10+, 87% of physical and console downloadable games in 2019 are appropriate for your teenager!

M (Mature 17+)

M (Mature 17+) was the least common rating assignment in 2019, with 13%.

Remember, every kid is different and it’s up to you to make the final decisions about which video games are appropriate for your children. After all, you do know them best!

If you find that you need more information about a game, take a look at the rating summary available on ESRB.org and our free rating search app. You can also use our step-by-step parental control guides to make sure you kids’ video game experiences stay age appropriate. Even when you’re not around!

Want to learn more about ESRB ratings? Visit our Ratings Guide, follow us on Twitter and Facebook, or Contact Us with more specific questions!

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]]> ESRB’s 2018 Rating Category Breakdown https://www.esrb.org/blog/esrbs-2018-rating-category-breakdown/ Thu, 10 Jan 2019 17:00:20 +0000 https://www.esrb.org/?p=1268 Every year ESRB breaks down the rating categories assigned to physical and console downloadable games. Last year, ESRB assigned age and content ratings to 2,768 of these games! You may find the 2018 Rating Category Breakdown results to be different than you’d expect. E (Everyone) In 2018, 42% of all physical and console downloadable games […]

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]]> Every year ESRB breaks down the rating categories assigned to physical and console downloadable games. Last year, ESRB assigned age and content ratings to 2,768 of these games! You may find the 2018 Rating Category Breakdown results to be different than you’d expect.

E (Everyone)

In 2018, 42% of all physical and console downloadable games were rated E for Everyone. This means more than 1,160 games in 2018 were (and are) suitable for the whole family!

E10+ (Everyone 10+)

The Everyone 10 + rating was assigned to 19% of the games in 2018. Your 10-year-old was age appropriate for almost 1,690 games last year!

T (Teen)

30% of games were assigned the T for Teen rating in 2018. Combined with E and E10+, 91% of physical and console downloadable games in 2018 are appropriate for your teenager!

M (Mature 17+)

M (Mature 17+) was the least common rating assignment in 2018, with 9%.

But remember, every kid is different and it’s up to you to make the final decisions about which video games are appropriate for your children. After all, you do know them best!

If you find that you need more information about a game, take a look at the rating summary available on ESRB.org and our free rating search app. You can also use our step-by-step parental control guides to make sure you kids’ video game experiences stay age appropriate. Even if you’re not around!

Want to learn more about ESRB ratings? Visit our Ratings Guide, follow us on Twitter and Facebook, or Contact Us with more specific questions!

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