3 DAY SUSPENSION (INSULTING A CHEATER)

Oh I thought (like movies) that the product was submitted for analysis to whatever institution, and then the rating was given to them.


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EDIT
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I was curious, so looked it up, found this :

So it would seem publishers choose a rating, (by choosing how they fill out the questionnaire) then, the ESRB checks it and then confirms or changes it.


https://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings-process/#:~:text=Digital games are rated using,Content Descriptors, and Interactive Elements.


So we're kinda both right

Yeah, when this process goes up in flames it usually comes down to a disagreement between lead roles (designers, devs, writers) and the publisher. In the case of planetside 2 they probably decided we want the TEEN rating thus there would be no blood or mature themes at all in the game. In quite common to see people being let go due to "creative differences" too and that's usually due to the creative/dev leads refusing to compromise the story and game in favour of appealing to a wider market or implementing customer unfriendly practices.

Once you get in bed with them big wig publishers you get a lot more baggage to carry and sometimes it means selling out on creating your dream game entirely. To paraphrase Jim Sterling, "Yes, they could make great experiences and make money but that wouldn't make them ALL the money."