ESRB Everyone 10+

E10+ (Everyone 10+)

Everyone 10+ (E10+) is an ESRB rating that suggests a video game is suitable for ages 10 and up. According to the ESRB, an E10+ rated video game "may contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language (up to the B-word level) and/or minimal suggestive themes."

This rating was introduced in March 2, 2005 (in between E and T) and the first video game to receive this rating was Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat (which was released in March 14th, 2005). This new rating had developers reassess the ESRB's guidelines, and had some developers aiming to get an E10+ instead of a T, such as with Shadow the Hedgehog's development team aiming for E10+ instead of T (which it did receive). Its introduction has resulted in some older games that had a T rating, such as four Ratchet & Clank games, and an E rating, such as Sly 2: Band of Thieves, to be rated E10+ in re-releases.

Video games with this rating are rated B in Mexico.

• French name: Enfants et adultes 10+
• Spanish name: Todos +10

Factors

The following is just an approximation. The ratings are based off of numerous factors, such as extent, context, frequency, art style and player control.

These factors apply to officially-rated games, as IARC-rated games can contain content that's not mentioned in the rating descriptors. Post-launch material also doesn't count for the factors.

If a game allows user-generated content that has user-generated games that would warrant a T rating, it may also earn this rating for Fantasy Violence (etc. Rec Room, Roblox [formerly])

Violence

E10+ rated games may contain:

• Mild realistic violence that lacks severe screams of pain, realistic gunfire, or large explosions ([Mild] Fantasy Violence)
• Moderate fantasy violence that lacks severe screams of pain or realistic gunfire (Fantasy Violence)
• Mild, or sometimes, moderate (realistic) violence towards non-combatants that lacks involvement of weapons or lacks encouragement (Mild Violence/Fantasy Violence)
• (Mild) Cartoony or fantasy violence that involves (cartoony or semi-realistic) weapons (Fantasy Violence/Mild Violence)
• Cartoony or fantasy violence that's protracted or involves mainly physical contact (Fantasy Violence/Mild Violence)
• Cartoony violence that contains very unrealistic dismemberment (Fantasy Violence)
• Moderate sports violence (Mild Violence)
• Mild to moderate violent references (Violent References)
• Implied violence (Violent References)
• Discreet or mild references to sexual violence that lack explicit detail (Violent References/Suggestive Themes)
• Mild to moderate dark thematic elements (Fantasy Violence)
• Scenes of peril that lack combat (Mild Violence)
• Minimum or infrequent, discreet and implied torture scenes (Mild Violence)

Stronger or more realistic violence will get a higher rating.

Blood/Gore

E10+ rated games may contain:

• Red blood in limited or small amounts (Mild Blood)
• Discolored blood that is unrealistic or in moderate amounts (Animated Blood).
• Mild to moderate injury detail (e.g. scratches, minimal blood dripping from wounds, mild cartoony gore) (Mild Blood/No Descriptors)

Realistic and stronger blood, gore, or injury detail will get a higher rating.

Sexuality

E10+ rated games may contain:

• Mild to moderate suggestive or sexual innuendos and references ([Mild] Suggestive Themes)
• Mild to moderate suggestive or sexual song lyrics ([Mild] Lyrics)
• Mild emphasis on anatomical features, like breasts or buttocks (Suggestive Themes)
• Minimal jiggle physics on breasts (Suggestive Themes)
• References to and/or undetailed scenes of animal mating or sexuality ([Mild] Suggestive Themes)
• Moderate revealing outfits that reveal some skin ([Mild] Suggestive Themes)
• Flirtatious themes ([Mild] Suggestive Themes)
• Mild implied sexual activity (e.g. "Wait which one were you 'close' with?" "We were ALL pretty close" Woah! That's hot.") (Suggestive Themes)

Directly implied sexual activity, heavy emphasis on anatomy (e.g. breasts, buttocks), strong jiggle physics on breasts, or anything else stronger will get a higher rating.

Nudity

E10+ rated games may contain:

• Unrealistic, cartoonish, undetailed nudity (Mild Suggestive Themes/Comic Mischief)
• Artistic nudity (in a limited capacity) (Mild Suggestive Themes/No Descriptors)
• Fully or partially censored nudity (Comic Mischief/Suggestive Themes)
• In rare cases, infrequent or very mild depictions of undetailed topless nudity for human or closely human characters as is the case of games like the early 2D Final Fantasy games. But usually, visible topless nudity of any kind for human or closely human characters is usually enough to warrant atleast a T rating ([Mild] Suggestive Themes)

Any stronger depictions of nudity will get a higher rating.

Language

E10+ rated games may contain:

• Mild language in a more frequent capacity (Mild Language/Mild Lyrics)
• Moderate profanity, such as "ass", "bastard", "b*tch", "douche" and "piss" (Language/Lyrics)
• Uses of mild derogatory language (e.g., "skank", "slut", "dyke"). ([Mild] Language/[Mild] Lyrics)
• Other mild derogatory language (e.g. "bimbo", "pervert", "creeper") ([Mild] Suggestive Themes/[Mild] Lyrics)
• Censored profanity (Mild Language/Mild Lyrics)
• Heavily censored or implied rude gestures, as well as non-visual references (Mild Language)
• Moderate foreign profanity (e.g. "merde" [French for "sh*t"]) (Mild Language)
• Mild abbreviated profanity (e.g. "BS") (Mild Language)

Stronger profanity, if included, has to be censored or partially heard (e.g., "What a load of bullsh-" and "What the f...?") or a higher rating is given. Exceptions to this rule include River City Girls Zero, which has two instances of "sh*t" uncensored, though, this was likely a mistake.

Substances

E10+ rated games may contain:

• Mild to moderate alcohol and tobacco references (Alcohol/Tobacco Reference/[Mild] Lyrics)
• Mild to moderate uses of alcohol and tobacco, provided they are only used by adult characters (Use Of Alcohol/Tobacco)
• Mild references to or depictions of intoxication (Alcohol Reference/Use of Alcohol/[Mild] Lyrics)
• Indirect/vague drug references without images of drug substances (Drug Reference/Lyrics)

Any stronger references to or uses of hard substances as well as heavily interactive distribution or use of alcohol and tobacco amongst player characters will get a higher rating.

Gambling

• Simulated gambling or references to gambling (Simulated Gambling/Gambling Themes)
• Simulated gambling with no monetary value (Simulated Gambling)
• Loot boxes or other systems with real monetary value (In-Game Purchases)

Any stronger or in-depth depictions of gambling will get a higher rating.

Humor

E10+ rated games may contain:

• (Mild to moderate) Crude jokes and/or bathroom humor (Crude Humor/Comic Mischief)
• (Mild to moderate) Unrealistic depictions of excrement, flatulence, vomiting, and/or bodily waste and fluids (Crude Humor/Comic Mischief)
• Indirect and tongue-in-cheek innuendos (Comic Mischief)

Strong crude humor (e.g. realistic or excessive bodily waste) will get a higher rating.

Escalation scale

Violence - (E) Mild Fantasy Violence/Violent References → (E10+) Fantasy Violence/Mild Violence/Violent References → (T) Violence → (M17+) Intense Violence

Blood - (E/E10+) Mild Blood/Animated Blood → (T) Blood (and Gore) → (M17+) Blood and Gore

Sexuality - (E) Mild Suggestive Themes → (E10+) (Mild) Suggestive Themes → (T) Suggestive Themes/(Mild) Sexual Themes/Sexual Content → (M17+) (Strong) Sexual Content

Nudity - (T) Partial Nudity → (M17+) Nudity

Language - (E) Mild Language/Mild Lyrics → (E10+/T) Language/Lyrics → (M17+) Strong Language/Strong Lyrics

Substances - (E) Alcohol/Tobacco Reference/Use of Alcohol (and Tobacco) → (E10+) Use of Alcohol (and Tobacco)/Drug Reference → (T) Use of Drugs (and Alcohol)/Drug Reference → (M17+) Use of Drugs

Humor - (E) Comic Mischief/Crude Humor → (E10+/T) Crude Humor → (M17+) Mature Humor

Examples of notable E10+-rated video games

• Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (Cartoon Violence)
  • Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is a 3D platformer from Nintendo's Donkey Kong series, released for the Nintendo GameCube. Violence involves stylized fights between anthropomorphic animals with punches, blows, etc. This is the first game to receive the E10+ rating.
• Minecraft (Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood [removed])
  • Minecraft is a popular 3D sandbox game in which players can build, fight and create. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 editions contain examples of mild blood (bloody purchasable skins, blood on sword in Strength indicator, blood on Zombie Pigmen) but they have been removed from subsequent versions of the game. Fantasy violence using swords, bows and magic is present and fantastical in nature, with players and "mobs" (in-game NPCs) flashing red when taking damage and falling to the ground, and disappearing into air when defeated.
• Splatoon (Cartoon Violence)
  • Splatoon is Nintendo's first entry into the third-person shooter series. Players can use ink guns to splat areas of turf and enemies with an array of colors of ink. Most notably in the game is the lack of red ink, which was present in an early stage of the game and removed (probably to avoid it being miscategorized and misinterpreted as blood), but Nintendo has not provided an official reason as to the reason why it had been removed. The game also contains mild violent references.
• Shadow the Hedgehog (Fantasy Violence, Mild Language)
  • Shadow the Hedgehog is a 2005 3D platformer in which players assume the role of Sonic the Hedgehog's rival, Shadow, which is more darker-themed and uses guns and mild profanity. The game was originally going to be oriented to teens, meaning that SEGA likely wanted to achieve a T rating. However, during the game's development, the ESRB introduced the E10+ rating. SEGA quickly changed many aspects of the game (e.g., changing blood color from red to green, cutting off a scene of a character's death and toning down the use of profanity, and euphemizing some stronger words) to achieve an E10+.
• Portal 2 (Fantasy Violence, Mild Language)
  • Portal 2 is a 2011 puzzle first-person shooter developed by Valve, in which you play as a test subject trying to escape a laboratory using a portal gun. The game once was hit with controversy when a father was playing Portal 2 with his adopted daughter and found out about dialogue from an antagonist telling the protagonist she is a "fatty fatty [with] no parents". The offended father contacted the WBTV news station and tried to file a report to Sony; however, the controversy was deemed completely unnecessary, since it was nothing more than a mild issue and a coincidence that the father's daughter was adopted; the daughter even claimed she "didn't even hear the line".
• Stardew Valley (Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Simulated Gambling, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco)
  • Stardew Valley used to be rated T, but was later re-rated to E10+.

• [Most of the] Just Dance series (Comic Mischief, Lyrics, Mild Suggestive Themes)
  • Just Dance is a popular music-rhythm dancing game series that started off in 2009 on the Wii. While Ubisoft tends to keep content PG and kid-friendly for the most part, there is still a plethora of mature content that slips by or gets the greenlight, whether it be in the song lyrics or choreography. This isn't helped with the extremely inconsistent censorship and changing opinions on what should be censored. There are times where suggestive lyrics (that would normally get a Teen rating) that reference kinks, fetishes, genitalia, and other direct sexual acts are left intact and audible (e.g., "I got the big D", "If we hanging, we banging", "Being a ***** is my kink", "This a hickey or a bruise?" "Pan mi **** so mi c*m" "Is your muffin buttered?" "Baby, if you strip, you can get a tip") and language that is censored in the majority of songs is left audible (e.g., "b*tch", "ass", "goddamn", "sh*t"). This is rather confusing as milder content, like references to clothing (e.g., "lingerie", "bras"), mild language (e.g., "damn", "hell"), and alcohol, are often omitted from lyrics. The series is also notorious for frequently including suggestive dance moves into the choreography of the songs, which gained it some backlash because of this.
• The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Animated Blood, Comic Mischief, Fantasy Violence)
  • The infamous Zelda entry was rated E10+ as well as the HD version rereleased in 2021.
• Undertale (Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Use of Tobacco)
  • Undertale is a 2015 popular role-playing game where you control a child who has fallen into the underground where monster-like creatures live. The violence is fantastical and stylized due to the 16-bit graphics, although is sometimes accompanied with glimpses of red-colored blood. There are a few uses of damn and hell, one use of pissing me off (despite the "Mild Language" descriptor) and some characters can be seen with cigarettes in their mouths. Many fans of the game have questioned if the decision of the ESRB was too lenient. Its sequel, Deltarune, was rated T for containing harsher language and stronger violence.
• [Some of the] Pokémon series (Fantasy Violence)
  • While the Pokémon games usually are E-rated, a few of the games (mainly spinoffs) have gotten an E10+ rating solely due to the combat being real-time and interactive instead of turn-based. These higher-rated Pokémon games actually have the mildest content in all of the Pokémon games (with the exception of Pokémon Legends Z-A, being on par with modern mainline games), only containing mild fantasy violence. The E-rated entries contain a variety of mature content, such as (indirect) references to murder, suicide, and characters dying in general, characters getting attacked or nearly killed, suggestive content (most notable in Pokémon Sun and Moon), mild profanity (Ex. "Don't screw this up"), (indirect) adult humor and innuendos, mild injury detail, political themes, and religious references.
  • Pokémon Legends Z-A is the first mainline game in the series to get an E10+ rating for “Fantasy Violence”

Other video games that were rated E10+

• Daxter (2006) (Animated Blood, Cartoon Violence, Crude Humor, Mild Language)
• Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) (Fantasy Violence)
• Sonic Unleashed (2008) (Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence)
• Need for Speed Hot Pursuit (2010) (Violence)
• Challenge Me: Word Puzzles (2011) (Language)
• Sly Cooper Thieves in Time (2013) (Alcohol Reference, Cartoon Violence, Suggestive Themes, Use of Tobacco)
• Sonic Lost World (2013) (Mild Cartoon Violence)
• Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (2014) (Cartoon Violence, Comic Mischief, Suggestive Themes)
• Super Smash Bros. for 3DS (2014) (Cartoon Violence, Comic Mischief, Suggestive Themes)
• LEGO Worlds (2017) (Cartoon Violence)
• Sonic Forces (2017) (Fantasy Violence)
• Super Mario Odyssey (2017) (Cartoon Violence, Comic Mischief)
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018) (Cartoon Violence, Comic Mischief, Suggestive Themes)
• Among Us (2018) (Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood)
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (2020) (Cartoon Violence)
• Sonic Frontiers (2022) (Fantasy Violence)
• Nintendo Switch Sports (2022) (Mild Violence)
• Balatro (2024) (Gambling Themes)
• Most Crash Bandicoot games (Cartoon Violence)

Equivalents

• MPAA's PG rating
• TV Parental Guidelines' TV-Y7-FV and TV-PG ratings
• MTRCB's PG rating
• PEGI's 7 rating
• BBFC's PG rating
• ACB's PG rating
• USK's 6 rating
• CERO's hard A and soft B ratings
• Netflix's 10+ rating
• Roblox's Mild rating

Trivia

• Despite technically being the equivalent of MPAA's PG rating, in some cases (usually indie games), it's actually more equivalent to a soft or semi-soft MPAA PG-13 rating, as E10+ can contain content that usually can't pass by in a modern MPAA PG movie, like very frequent or persistent use of moderate profanity and/or derogatory terms, frequent overtly suggestive romance themes, heavily suggestive character designs, frequent mild sexual references, impolite or indirect references to genitalia, frequent depictions of encouraged or persistent violence against non-combatants, persistent depictions of blood, frequent or persistent depictions of heavy themes, glamorization of drug-like substances, and persistent depictions of extreme peril. This is mainly due to the fact that the ESRB isn't as focus-heavy on the nature and intended audience of the game, whether it be aimed for older audiences or kids and families, as the MPAA is, hence why a bunch of games within the E10+ range usually can't pass with a PG rating unless they undergo some form of editing and content altering.
• If a modern MPAA PG movie is in a historical context or the movie doesn't intend to attract a wider audience, it can sometimes be more permissive than a E10+ rated game, including content like frequent derogatory language/slurs, direct references to genitalia, sexual and suggestive content that somewhat exceeds that as permitted in a E10+ rated game, and some strong violence.

References

Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)
Current ratings Discontinued rating