Sign on Options
Theme:
To Dark

Oblivion rerated M for Mature

[UPDATE] ESRB bumps up game's rating from T for Teen, says Bethesda failed to properly report objectionable content in ratings submission.

Take-Two Interactive may not have a follow-up for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas yet, but it appears the publisher does have a pseudo-sequel to that game's Hot Coffee scandal on its hands.

The Entertainment Software Ratings Board today issued a parental advisory that it has changed the rating of Take-Two subsidiary 2K Games' hit role-playing game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for the PC and the Xbox 360. (Inital reports indicated that only the PC version of the game had been re-rated.) Originally released with a rating of T for Teen, the game has now been rerated M for Mature, due to "more detailed depictions of blood and gore than were considered in the original rating, as well as the presence of a locked-out art file or 'skin' that, if accessed through a third-party modification to the PC version of the game, allows the user to play with topless versions of female characters."

Before the game was rerated, Pete Hines of Oblivion developer Bethesda Softworks discussed the mod with GameSpot. "Obviously we have a pretty big, and active, mod community for the PC version, and there are some gamers who hacked into Oblivion's art archive files and modified them to create a nude upper female torso in the game," Hines said. "We can't control and don't condone the actions of anyone who alters the game so that it displays material that may be considered offensive. We haven't received any complaints on the issue from anyone."

The ESRB is adding a "nudity" content descriptor to the PC version of the game "until it can be re-mastered and released with the topless skin removed."

[UPDATE]: As for how Oblivion escaped the ratings process with an improper rating the first time around, the ESRB pointed the finger at Bethesda. When a company submits a game to be rated, it is required to provide the ESRB with a video tape "showing the most extreme content and an accurate representation of the context and product as a whole."

After discovering the issues in "post-release monitoring and play-testing," the ESRB initiated a review of the game's original ratings process. The board cross-examined the tape Bethesda submitted with video taken from the final release of the game, and ultimately determined that the developer understated the detail and intensity of the blood and gore in the game. In reference to the nude skin, which is inaccessible during normal play and so couldn't have been included in the taped submission, the ESRB said publishers are required "to disclose locked-out content during the rating process if it is pertinent to a rating," and that Bethesda failed to do so.

As a result, the ESRB said a number of corrective actions are being taken regarding the matter. Bethesda will notify retailers of the rating change, provide stores and distributors with M-rating stickers for all unsold copies of the game, and preparing new packaging with the proper rating and content descriptors for future copies of the game. Bethesda will also prepare a downloadable patch to modify the game's art archive and make the topless skin inaccessible, even on a modded PC version of the game.

Shortly after the ESRB parental advisory was issued, Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association president Hal Halpin sent out his own statement about the re-rating. Halpin called the resulting change in sales policy for the game "immediate," and said a number of major retailers had already changed their systems so cashiers would be prompted to ask for ID when copies of Oblivion were scanned.

"Of note in this matter is the speed at which retailers reacted and parents were empowered," Halpin said. "Ultimately that is what makes any ratings system effective in the end."

A Take-Two representative deferred GameSpot's questions regarding the matter to Bethesda, but did say that the company doesn't expect the re-rating to have a financial impact on its operations.

582 Comments

  • kid23455

    Posted Nov 25, 2011 2:32 pm GMT

    This game deseves an M rating. The amount of blood in the arena, Lucien Lachance's death are not things that could be shown in a T game.

  • TheUnknownM

    Posted Oct 22, 2010 10:14 pm GMT

    This was T till they found out the sexual mods and changed it to M -.- Change it back to T

  • nick_manthe

    Posted Sep 10, 2010 2:29 pm GMT

    Wow no posts for a year

  • chuckman1

    Posted Dec 7, 2009 8:26 pm GMT

    Remember Hot Coffee?

  • menaus

    Posted Nov 27, 2009 11:18 pm GMT

    this is just crap, if ESRB was serious than ALL games would be rated M because someone or another would create a mod with nudity

  • Rohan75

    Posted Sep 6, 2009 12:52 pm GMT

    My mom doesn't let me get this game for xbox 360 because its rated M but im starting to convince by telling her about how it should be rated t ^_^

  • Blazingfire17

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 1:26 pm GMT

    i have played morrowind, and oblivion, and ok, oblivion has some more blood and gore, but not enough to change it to M :[

  • filmboy85

    Posted Jul 13, 2009 5:17 pm GMT

    This was simply a publicity stunt by the ESRB to please conservative parents and politicians. To me, it sounds like Bethesda accurately described the game's violence, and the fact that the ESRB changed the rating based on a mod is stupid. They know that everyone else thinks mods shouldn't be accounted for in a game's rating, so they are simply trying to blame Bethesda for their weak attempt at avoiding controversy. Anyways, Uncharted is probably comparable to Oblivion with regards to content (violence and language), and it's rated T. In fact, some consider Oblivion milder (in Australia, Oblivion has a lower rating than Uncharted, and the Australian rating system is far stricter than the ESRB).

  • starduke

    Posted Jun 24, 2009 6:29 am GMT

    So, that's why I was playing the game and thinking "What nudity?" All the women still have their underwear on, unless you can access the topless skin. I actually have the GOTY PC edition which doesn't have the nudity on the box as part of the rating by the ESRB. It still has the hanging bodies and the blood and gore and language though. It makes it a bit more realistic then Morrowind. When you chop something with an axe, they be chopped and should have some blood and gore. So, it's stll M rated, just without the optinal topless women.

  • lol384

    Posted Apr 30, 2009 4:49 pm GMT

    360 version should still be T because you cant mod it and the language isnt bad and the hanging body which the ERSB board considered gore(well it is but thats one thing) so it should'nt have changed

  • Lebowski-Dude

    Posted Mar 29, 2009 11:21 am GMT

    @ Mr Versipellis
    I think he meant that the 360 version couldn't be modded. At least, that's what would make more sense.

  • Mr_Versipellis

    Posted Mar 28, 2009 7:59 am GMT

    The stupidest thing about this was that even if the skin wasn#'t excluded there'd have been nude mods out within hours... Even Morrowind's most popular mod has a nude option (called "Better Bodies")
    BTW 360 people, get your facts right. The PC version CAN be modded. I'd know. I'm a big TES fanboy and a modder.

  • NeoBlueDragonEX

    Posted Mar 23, 2009 4:43 pm GMT

    God, this is unfair. Oblivion's one of my favorite games for the 360. You can't really mod it, so why change the rating? Thanks a lot, ESRB.

  • frazzle00

    Posted Feb 27, 2009 4:56 am GMT

    The people who are concerned have obviously not had a look at the character models in Oblivion .

  • PSgeek

    Posted Dec 19, 2008 1:15 pm GMT

    This is a joke...what if some moron made nude females...doesn't mean we have to play the game with the mod.

  • korajama

    Posted Aug 3, 2008 9:31 am GMT

    that was pretty stupid when on other games they say online content is not rated. and guys if you look at the disc it still says teen

  • DeathHeart95

    Posted Jul 31, 2008 9:05 am GMT

    They should've kept the T rating with the 360 version. Mods can't affect it, therefore, there is no reason to rate it M...

  • demonkiller111

    Posted Jun 23, 2008 12:53 pm GMT

    Stupid pervs! Now it's going to be ough to find the T rated version so my parents can let be play it. Why do people have to be so perverted?

  • sammo365

    Posted Jun 7, 2008 3:01 pm GMT

    What the hell... Now i cant convince my parents to let me get the game because of perverted people who have to screw with the game. I agree exactly with RoC1909. Mods shouldn't affect the ratings at all.

  • Lopur94

    Posted Jun 5, 2008 4:57 pm GMT

    obviously the ESRB people arent computer whizes and only know how to rate games... and annoy people too...

  • Gretzky1106

    Posted Apr 19, 2008 7:47 pm GMT

    I think they should have kept the Teen Rating but rather put a warning sticker on every copy of the game alerting parents the Blood & Gore may be a little higher than they expect for a Teen Rated Game.

  • skitchrick

    Posted Jan 30, 2008 2:32 pm GMT

    Dear, ESRB - Do you wonder why everyone ignores your ratings? Maybe because they're ridiculous.

  • blamder-drag

    Posted Jan 18, 2008 1:45 pm GMT

    Morrowind is just as bad as Oblivion you can find tons of mods on the internet that would make it an AO game. Games should be rated on original content not 3rd party content

  • cmorgan5607

    Posted Jan 4, 2008 1:45 pm GMT

    that's sad. now some kid won't get to enjoy the wonderfulness of oblivion because his mommy saw the rating says "nudity". and it's something he would never even be able to see anyways.

  • lathan94

    Posted Dec 2, 2007 8:32 am GMT

    its a mod that is 100% out of bethesdas control i cant believe the esrb dosnt get that. A mod is something created by the player which shouldnt be given a rating. The game it self is created by the developers which should be rated.

  • alpha_company

    Posted Nov 12, 2007 4:50 pm GMT

    Oh I see, I better get playing Oblivion again...

  • BraindeadRacr

    Posted Nov 4, 2007 8:48 pm GMT

    Exact same thing as the Hot Coffee thing.

    Normal players(I think I speak for 90% of the buyers of GTASA/Oblivion console versions) can't access that kind of stuff, and if they are able, that's for their own personal... Joy.

    Like, that hacker from the Netherlands who discovered the Hot Coffee file after digging around in places normal players can't digg around in... Does that mean that EVERYONE has to suffer(can't think of a different word) because of a few skilled hackers?

    Why all this trouble when only a handfull of guys can access it?

  • flashn00b

    Posted Sep 21, 2007 2:55 pm GMT

    why should the 360 version be re-rated?

  • lordinuyasha21

    Posted Sep 21, 2007 5:48 am GMT

    This is why I hate the esrb...they need to get it right the first time...I beleive RoC1909 has a very good point !

  • dudeglove

    Posted Sep 7, 2007 7:01 am GMT

    HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

  • ScaryMoviefan

    Posted Aug 30, 2007 10:50 am GMT

    it a mod ESRB isn't supposed to rate games because of it's mods

  • RoC1909

    Posted Aug 28, 2007 1:06 pm GMT

    If a player could not access the so called 'offensive content' without having to make a program OR modify some settings that wouldn't 'ordinarily' be modified by the user, then the T rating should have stuck. I am SICK AND TIRED of these idiots modifying a game to have offensive content (and to get their OWN jollies) and then lawmakers coming in and screwing with the company. This is like buying a car, modifying the engine so that it only goes 150mph using TOOLS and PARTS that I MYSELF created. Taking said car out on the road, killing 100 people and then blaming the car company for the accident(s)......or......taking my handgun and placing it in the parking lot of the apartment I live in. Having some dumb ass person come by, pick it up and kill 15 people with it and then blaming the gun manufacturers. When are people going to be held accountable for their own actions?!?! If I shoot somebody, it's MY FAULT. If I spill hot coffee on myself while driving, maybe I shouldn't be drinking when I drive (which should be at all times.) If I create a MOD for a video game that shows all the women naked, it's MY FAULT! But again, this is the reason we have blood sucking lawyers. To get a person PAID when something happens and is THEIR OWN fault!!

  • ColdGen

    Posted Aug 27, 2007 9:20 pm GMT

    Sigh! When will the industry grow up?

  • mishkawy

    Posted Aug 21, 2007 4:01 am GMT

    its not even their fault its a mod MOD!!!

    you cannot rate a game from its mods??

  • druid318

    Posted Aug 6, 2007 11:10 am GMT

    Something is wrong when a game full of machine guns and such is supposed to be better for teens than a skin of a topless woman.

  • 360gamerz

    Posted Jul 26, 2007 4:01 pm GMT

    why is gettin upped to mature on 360 i swear u cnt mod on 360?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

  • 360gamerz

    Posted Jul 26, 2007 4:01 pm GMT

    why is gettin upped to mature on 360 i swear u cnt mod on 360?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

  • shadymnms

    Posted Jul 22, 2007 5:07 am GMT

    @ PrivateJessard, they do make the skins, put the skins are covered by other textures (their clothes) modders found a way to modify the appearence of the character, honestly i dont think its Bethesda's fault, they sent a tape of what is actually viewable at the time, thats like yelling at microsoft for you getting a virus, it's not there fault some one spent a **** load of time making mod/hacking it...

  • PrivateJessard

    Posted Jul 8, 2007 10:03 pm GMT

    Why would they change it to M because of a skin? It's a skin. It's not like the creators of the game made the skin. Couldn't you do that to any game?

  • 761stPaladin

    Posted Jul 5, 2007 4:09 pm GMT

    "As I stand there, watching hack these violent video games, even helpless to look at the ratings, I can't help but wonder....where the system has phailed" - my dad
    I mean seriously. Y?

  • Turisman4

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 11:44 am GMT

    Gadwin is right. You can probably hack the characters in a children's educational game and the morons will consider it to be rated AO.

  • Gadwin100

    Posted Jun 24, 2007 7:29 pm GMT

    Thats just ridiculous. ESRB is a bunch of total nubs. Locked out content should have NOTHING to do with a rating. If you want to make a rating based on what someone has to do something through a third party program, set up an additional rating system for that. See how many games would get the M or AO rating because some third party thing adds in nudity or something. Its so retarded. Just like Jack Thompson.

  • ryan72

    Posted Jun 15, 2007 8:45 pm GMT

    my boxed version has the 'T' on it for TEEN, I guess it's a collector's item now due to the overreacting idiot masses...

  • TugboatTheGreat

    Posted May 13, 2007 11:56 am GMT

    This is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. I've come across this same mod for Morrowind and Morrowind didn't even get talked about. You can't decide the rating of the game because of some third party modification. I think ESRB has become too uptight and has been giving M ratings for rediculous reasons.

  • woofiny

    Posted Apr 30, 2007 7:19 pm GMT

    But Why this, Like Movies Have Nudity And Are Rated Pg-13
    T For Teen Is 13..And Nudity Doesn't Matter. I Bet Every 13+ Year Old Had Seen Some "Nude Female Upper Torso" Before..Why Now?

  • Little_Bloodred

    Posted Apr 29, 2007 5:26 pm GMT

    Of course we must think about the innocent children who would be completely destroyed if they came in touch with what we call reality before their 18'th birthday.

  • Scout013

    Posted Mar 29, 2007 6:35 pm GMT

    Wow...there should be a lot more M rated games for nudity then. Seriously, so many games have mods its not even funny. I've even seen someone showing how to get nudity in the Sims. ESRB didn't complain about that now did they?

Subscribe to GameSpot's YouTube Channel

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!

Related Game

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Boxshot
Follow:
  1. Not Following
    Xbox 360: Follow
  2. Not Following
    PC: Follow
  3. Not Following
    PlayStation 3: Follow
  4. Not Following
    Mobile: Follow
  5. Not Following
    PSP: Follow
Add to List
  1. Xbox 360
  2. PC
  3. PlayStation 3
  4. Mobile
  5. PSP

Follow for the latest news, videos, & tips from experts & insiders

GameSpot Fuse
    Platforms:

    Site Blogs