14 DAY TRIAL // Adult Only video games have long been considered a form of suicide for those companies brave enough to release them, but the leader of the main association representing the industry believes that the AO rating will become more familiar and accepted during the coming years.
Patricia Vance, who is the current president of the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, has told Gamasutra that, “You know, up to this point most people associate AO with sexual content.
“We've actually assigned AO ratings for violent content as well; it's just that most of the time that product gets edited or changed in order to warrant an M rating, so you never see it in the market.”
The industry leader believes that with the current move towards digitally distributed video games, which is very advanced on the PC but is also making progress on home consoles, gamers might see more Adult Only titles that try to explore themes that have until now been taboo, from over-the-top violence to various takes on sexuality.
Vance added, “It's very possible that there will be greater acceptance of an AO rating going forward. And by the way, I think that would be a good thing for the system. It's very frustrating that publishers can't release AO product, in many cases.”
The big problem with an Adult Only rating is that publishers are unwilling to accept the games using it. All this is because they know that retail chains, who are interested in protecting their family-friendly image, will not be putting them on shelves, which will in turn drive sales down under the profitable level.
Digital distribution solves this problem because it allows gamers to decide for themselves whether an AO-rated video game has content that they might find offensive or it is merely trying to push the boundaries of what the industry is willing to accept.