“Starfield Receives Mature 17+ Rating for Drug Use, Violence, and Suggestive Language”

Modern Bethesda Game Studios games have all been open world and included some sort of drug use, so it was expected when the game was given an 18 age limit in Australia. Now it’s America’s turn to follow tradition.

Entertainment Software Rating Board confirms that they have decided to give Starfield the Mature 17+ rating because it contains blood, strong language, suggestive themes, the use of drugs and violence. Fallout 3, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 all got the same, so this wasn’t surprising. Most of the reasons for that are also known:

“This is an open-world role-playing game where players assume the role of a miner tasked with finding artifacts across the galaxy. From first/third-person perspectives, players interact with various characters, completing missions and searching for supplies while fighting enemies ( (eg humans, robots, aliens).Players use futuristic weapons, lasers, axes, and explosives to kill enemies. Combat is fast-paced, with frequent gunfire, screams of pain, and explosions. Attacking some enemies may result in blood spatter- effects; several environments show bloodstains on the ground around corpses. The game contains some suggestive material in the dialogue, and after sharing a bed with characters (e.g. “Life is a sexually transmitted disease that is one hundred percent fatal”; “I am completely to get a little wild, but let’s try it without jetpacks next time”; “Talk about seeing stars, phew… that was awesome.”). A fictional substance (Aurora) features prominently in the game, with a part that involves the players’ characters working in an illegal drug laboratory; players can also obtain Aurora by stealing or buying it from vendors (ingesting Aurora results in a distortion effect on the screen). The words “f**k” and “bullsh*t” appear in the game.”

Something unique is obviously the specific suggestive language used in the game, as it’s safe to say that Starfield will have some funny comments.

One thing few will find particularly amusing is that the review also reveals that the game includes “in-game purchases”. This often means microtransactions, so I’ve reached out to Xbox and Bethesda in hopes of getting a comment.