The ESRB has started slapping blockchain games with Adults Only ratings, so Epic has changed its store policy to allow them

20.12.2023 - 21:39 / pcgamer.com / Tim Sweeney

Unlike Steam, the Epic Games Store has a hard-and-fast rule against adult content. Its content guidelines state very clearly that «products with Adults Only ratings cannot be distributed on the Epic Games Store.» But it recently updated those guidelines to allow AO-rated games on the store for one specific reason: If they were given that rating because they involve blockchain trading.

Also unlike Steam, which banned NFT games in 2021, Epic has no issue with them: CEO Tim Sweeney said in 2022 that «developers should be free to decide how to build their games,» and it's up to Epic users to decide whether or not to play with them. That's fair enough, and the first blockchain-based game, Blankos Block Party, appeared on the Epic Store a few months later.

But the situation got complicated last week when the ESRB, the North American videogame rating agency, slapped an Adults Only rating on a pair of other blockchain-based games, Gods Unchained and Striker Manager 3. 

The problem was not the presence of sex, which is the usual AO trigger, but the play-to-earn element: Both games offer «cash prizes» and that puts them squarely in the AO rating, which is reserved for games with «prolonged scenes of intense violence, graphic sexual content, and/or gambling with real currency.» In accordance with Epic's content guidelines, the games were removed from sale.

«ESRB can confirm that the AO (Adults Only 18+) rating was assigned to both Gods Unchained and Striker Manager 3,» the ESRB said in a statement provided to PC Gamer. «That said, the AO rating assignments were not a direct result of them being blockchain games, but rather how that was implemented.

»As is the case with all games, age rating assignments are dependent on the content of a game and the context in which it is presented to the player. The ESRB age and content rating system assesses whether products may reward real money, prizes with real world value, or something that can be exchanged for or converted to real money (i.e., gift cards, cryptocurrency, etc.), as well as whether there is cash spent to be eligible for such rewards. While it is not a blanket rule, it is possible that a blockchain-enabled game or app will warrant an Adults Only rating category assignment due to a combination of the factors discussed above."

The ESRB also noted that Gods Unchained and Striker Manager 3 don't appear in searches on its website because that database only catalogs physical games: «The rating information for digital-only titles are present on product detail pages so potential players know what to expect and parents can reference them immediately before deciding to purchase or download a game or app for their children.»

Following the removal, Gods Unchained