ESRB Teen

Teen is an ESRB rating that suggests a video game is suitable for ages 13 and up. In Canada, it is the highest ESRB rating that has no legislative basis. According to the ESRB, a T rated video game "may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language."

Video games with this rating are rated B15 in Mexico.

French name: Adolescents
Spanish name: Adolescentes

Factors[]

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.

Note: Having "Diverse Content: Discretion Advised" as the content descriptor is the only possible way to have M17+-exclusive content.

Violence[]

T rated games may contain moderate or intense (fantasy) violence, regardless of artstyle or graphics. Strong and intense realistic violence will get an M17+ rating.

Blood/Gore[]

T rated games may contain minimal blood. Maybe gore, but only if it's unrealistic, simplified, and/or not in large sizes (the size of it on the screen, not the injury size), and if not mixed with strong realistic violence; gore in a first-person perspective is unlikely to be allowed though. Blood is also allowed if not mixed with strong realistic violence.

Sexuality[]

T rated games may contain suggestive or sexual language. Implied or shown sexual activity is allowed if it's simplified or subtle. Sexual/crude references and innuendos are permitted and in much greater amounts than E or E10+ rated games. Suggestive content can also include suggestive outfits that reveal much more skin or heavily emphasize anatomical features in a much greater capacity than E10+ rated games, regardless of graphics, and an emphasis on breasts and buttocks. Sexual content/themes can't be fully interactive (e.g., touching female characters' bodies suggestively to warrant reactions or rewards), or the game will get a higher rating.

Nudity[]

Partial nudity can be allocated under the T rating. Nude female breasts can be allocated under the T rating if the depiction is brief and the breasts are simplified. If not, nudity on private parts has to be covered by graphic effects.

Language[]

T rated games can include moderate bad language, such as "sh*t", "a*shole", "d*ck", "c*ck", "p*ssy", "tw*t", and derogatory slurs (e.g., the N-word). Crude gestures (e.g., the "middle finger" gesture) are also acceptable. In extremely rare cases, strong language such as the word "f**k" can be used if infrequent, discreet and justified by context, as in the case of One Last Breath; otherwise, normally if it's used in a game, it will be rated M17+ unless censored.

Substances[]

Drug use may be present in T rated games if it's not graphic and/or frequent. Drug references are allowed.

Gambling[]

Simulated gambling is permitted in T rated games, but real gambling is not. Very realistic simulations of gambling that can easily be mistaken for real gambling is not acceptable and will warrant a M17+ rating.

Humor[]

(Strong) Crude humor is acceptable .

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 T rated video games[]

Fortnite (Violence, Lyrics/Diverse Content: Discretion Advised)
- Launched in 2017, Fortnite is an online video game that features a variety of gamemodes that can be played within the game. The original line-up of games was Save The World and Battle Royale. While Save The World is a singleplayer survival third-person shooter strategy game, Battle Royale, the most popular mode, is a multiplayer sandbox third-person shooter strategy game popular with teens and children alike. Before 2023, there was some dispute whether Fortnite deserves a T or E10+ rating due to the cartoony art style of the game, but it obtained a T rating due to the frequency of violence and its depictions of realistic gunfire. Epic Games would utilize the T rating for Save The World more than the rest of the game as Save The World has adult content, like swearing and mild adult references while the rest of the game would remove or censor nearly any instance of adult content other than the violence (except for some rare instances of mild profanity being left in-tact) due to its popularity amongst young players and wanting to keep it kid-friendly for this reason. In 2023, Fortnite would add new game modes into the game that have their own ESRB ratings and an age-rating system utilizing the same ratings, causing the content descriptor for the main Fortnite game to be changed from "Violence" to "Diverse Content: Discretion Advised". Amongst these game modes is Fortnite Festival, a rhythm game developed by Harmonix that's inspired by one of their game franchises, Rock Band. What's noticeable in this game mode is the amount of sexual content, drug/alcohol references, and profanity present/uncensored in the lyrics that would normally get omitted in regular Fortnite. What's allowed and not allowed to be uncensored is very inconsistent, as, depending on the version Harmonix was given, some adult content that is normally censored is left uncensored in some songs (e.g. "sh*t" and/or "b*tch" being uncensored in songs like Moves Like Jagger, So What, emo girl, and What's My Age Again, "whore" being uncensored in Basket Case). The songs can be performed in the main Battle Royale game mode solo or with other players and other T-rated games/game modes in Fortnite. The adult content in the lyrics generated shocking reactions as Fortnite was very censor-heavy on this content before Fortnite Festival.
Super Smash Bros. Melee (Comic Mischief, Mild Violence)
- Super Smash Bros. Melee is a Nintendo fighting platformer released in 2001. It's widely considered to be the least violent T rated video game of all time because of its cartoony art style and unrealistic violence. It was rated Teen due to suggestive humor being present in the game. One note in mind is that the E10+ rating did not exist at the time of the game's release. Its sequel, Brawl, also received a T rating despite the E10+ rating existing when it was released.
Guns, Gore and Cannoli (Violence, Blood and Gore, Alcohol Reference, Mild Language, Use of Tobacco)
- Guns, Gore and Cannoli is a 2015 2D platformer that received criticism due to its gratuitous gore. It normally would've warranted an M17+ rating, but due to the stylized nature of the game, ESRB gave it a T rating.
Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe (Blood, Suggestive Themes, Violence)
- The first T rated video game in the series, MKVSDC, is a fighting game that was controversial due to how violent it was. It had to censor two fatalities to achieve the T rating (an animation where the Joker shoots the opponent in the head was changed to depict the fatality off-screen and an animation where Kitana threw blades at the enemy's head was changed to depict them throwing blades at the torso). It's regarded as one of the most violent T rated video games of all time.
Final Fantasy 7 [Classic] (Blood, Fantasy Violence, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes)
- Final Fantasy 7 is a 1997 3D role-playing game in the Final Fantasy series that's notorious for its mature content that some have debated should've warranted it an M rating. This mature content includes bloodstained environments, implied sexual activity, and violent cutscenes.
Roblox (Diverse Content: Discretion Advised)
- Roblox is a popular online platform that has been around since 2006. Formerly rated E10+ for Fantasy Violence, the game allows users to create their own experiences (games). 17+ games have been added however, though to access them one has to go through a certain series of steps. Other than that, games on the platform can be considered Teen, even though most games are either 9+ or for everyone, but they can contain blood and/or gore and/or moderate violence, despite the ratings. There are Roblox games that are rated 13+ however, so that's really where the Teen part comes in, however some 13+ rated games such as Combat Warriors could be considered as Mature 17+.

Equivalents[]

MPAA's PG-13 rating
TV Parental Guidelines' TV-14 rating
MTRCB's R-13 and soft SPG ratings
PEGI's 12 rating
BBFC's 12 rating
ACB's M rating
CERO's hard B and soft C ratings
Netflix's 13+ rating
FSK's and USK's 12 rating

Trivia[]

Surprisingly, despite the clear lack of interactive, simulated gambling, 80 Days & Overboard!, rated 18 by PEGI for gambling, had been rated T by the ESRB and 6 by the USK.
Some games that are rated 16 by PEGI (e.g. Destroy All Humans!, this aforementioned game was rated PEGI 16 for sustained depictions of violence to human-like characters) had been rated T by the ESRB.

References[]

Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)
Current ratings Discontinued rating