Sign on Options
Theme:
To Dark

Study: M-rated games sell best

Independent research firm finds risqué games gross top dollars, review scores augur solid sales.

Though much ado is often paid to the console wars raging between Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft, the performance of games broken down by genre, rating, or features is often overlooked. However, a new study by the Electronic Entertainment Design and Research firm titled "Console Intelligence Briefing 2007" targets these metrics specifically.

In collecting its data, EEDAR examined 219 retail and 187 downloadable games released on the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 since each console's release through June 1. The company used GameSpot sister site Metacritic in measuring a game's average review store, and pulled its statistical data from a variety of sources, including "authoritative sources" and first-hand observation.

One of the more noteworthy findings from the study was that titles that received a M for Mature rating had the highest average review scores and the highest average gross sales in the US. These games accounted for 10 percent of the total amount of titles released, and were able to achieve their sales numbers despite "not being offered for sale at some major retailers."

The study also noted that games that score above 90 on Metacritic grossed sales of up to 531 percent more than the industry average, even though games of such caliber accounted for less than 2 percent of the titles released. Furthermore, "highly rated titles" sell up to five times better than games that receive lower review scores, according to the study.

EEDAR's findings revealed that action games were the most prevalent genre during its sampling period, at 24 percent of all titles. However, the shooter genre accrued the highest gross sales. The study also noted that only 45 percent of retail games made use of online connectivity, with 98 percent of all Wii games having no online support. However, the Wii received more than twice the number of retail games in its first seven months than the Xbox 360 or PS3 in the same amount of time after their respective launches.

291 Comments

  • Red_Falcon_

    Posted Apr 22, 2010 7:01 pm GMT

    The price of today's games allow me to be 1 or 2 new releases every couple of months.So I do my research and buy games that I feel have High Quality and replay value.The ratings on this site and others help me to make an informed chose of what game is going to get my $60's.

  • Eliphs

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 11:58 am GMT

    I remembered when people played video games they enjoyed because they were *FUN* instead of their rating. This study seems bogus to me.

  • kappareign

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 12:20 am GMT

    i buy M rated resident evil games cuz theyre fun. i buy E rated zelda games cuz theyre fun, too. rating has nothing to do with it

  • majestikk

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 11:21 pm GMT

    Yeah if that study is correct, than ask me why games with an AO rating are technically considered "banned"? You'd figure at least either Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo would grow a set of "cojones" and publish AO games. Doesn't that mean more money? One example is Manhunt 2. A game that got an AO rating, and was forced to basically censor some of it's cool execution cut-scenes in order to scale it down to an M rating and get published.

  • playstation_wii

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 7:11 pm GMT

    It's because reviewers are adults, and they prefer more mature games.

  • NWA_31

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 11:18 am GMT

    Violence and sex sell, nothing new there...

  • NallRuby

    Posted Sep 15, 2007 8:47 pm GMT

    Wait...they did a study to find out that mature games sell better than normal ones?!? I now can't wait to find out about a new study saying Nintendo's to blame for national park attendance dropping...wait, they did THAT too? What's next? "A New Study Shows That Apples Are Used In Apple Pie"?!?

  • ninjasam

    Posted Sep 14, 2007 8:22 am GMT

    Fo'real, why did they do a study about this? I could have told you that!

  • Chickensoup911

    Posted Sep 14, 2007 4:58 am GMT

    OMG! GOOD GAMES ARE GOOD! BAD GAME ARE BAD! Sherlock, you've done it again.

  • Absolutezerr

    Posted Sep 13, 2007 6:40 pm GMT

    "'highly rated titles' sell up to five times better than games that receive lower review scores, according to the study."
    ----
    How amazing! Good games sell better! Who would have thought it?

  • Sandro909

    Posted Sep 13, 2007 4:26 pm GMT

    There's the proof all those chicken developers need. Now make me some more gruesome M rated games damn it!

  • mercenar3

    Posted Sep 13, 2007 4:20 pm GMT

    censorship ruins art. period. Its like putting clothes on the figures in the sistine chapel, oh wait....

  • Crush_Project

    Posted Sep 13, 2007 3:09 pm GMT

    all "m" means to me is that they dont have to make some stupid politically correct crap, and they can concentrate on their storylines, instead of wondering if something is ok for sheltered retarded yuppie little kids to see.

  • nathris

    Posted Sep 13, 2007 2:30 pm GMT

    M rated games have killing and multiplayer and other fun stuff. Some T games have some of the same, but its usually more subdued and less fun. The E games, with the exception of most Nintendo titles and a few gems all suck. They don't sell well because they are quickly produced platformers or minigame collections designed to cash in on the latest Disney movie.

    Hopefully this will spur companies like EA and Ubisoft to stop releasing crap, since spending an extra 3 months to turn a 7.0 game into a 9.0 game apparently boosts sales by 531%.

  • Mortal_Medic

    Posted Sep 13, 2007 2:13 pm GMT

    To Snakenamedjoe- A person under 17 doesn't have to "drag their parents along" to see an R rated film, the parent just has to purchase the movie tickets for them.

  • YukoAsho

    Posted Sep 13, 2007 10:48 am GMT

    snakenamedjoe - Does that apply to home sales or PPV revenue? Everyone knows that theaters aren't the only revenue sources for movies. I'd wager that they're the least important. I wanna know which movies get the most DVD sales and the most orders on Pay-per-view/on-demand services.

  • F1freak660

    Posted Sep 13, 2007 7:10 am GMT

    Games that are rated M get the est reviews because developers realy don't have to worry about what they're putting in to them. They can really work on creating their vision for a game, resulting in more realistic graphics, creativity, etc.

  • Link_Destined_1

    Posted Sep 13, 2007 5:03 am GMT

    Yes, gravity hasn't failed us yet.

  • Azhar85

    Posted Sep 13, 2007 1:38 am GMT

    Games that has a M rating are more enchanted graphic,good gameplay and mostly important... feel realistic....

  • pattywagon313

    Posted Sep 12, 2007 4:47 pm GMT

    I think that's because publishers and game developers make all of their best games M for mature. They want to appeal to the public liking for gore, violence, and being realistic. For example, the chainsaw in gears of war was unnecessary but awesome at the same time, which contributed to the game's M rating. They've got this gamer sold.

  • DJ_P_R_K

    Posted Sep 12, 2007 4:17 pm GMT

    duh...... rated m games are the most reallistic .... no one wants to play a shot ppl in the head and just see him fall... we want it to be like in real life BLOOD, and what person in life dont say *&(*& once in a while in rated e game you get hit in the nuts the person says " man duch that hurt" LAME real life " **** man what the *** was that for" lol RATED M GAMES ROCKKKKK

  • 789shadow

    Posted Sep 12, 2007 4:14 pm GMT

    For those of you who say that M-Rated games are better than E or T-rated games...........well,that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

  • MysticDynamite

    Posted Sep 12, 2007 1:37 pm GMT

    The few. The proud. The Mature.

  • snakenamedjoe

    Posted Sep 12, 2007 12:43 pm GMT

    Actually, R rated movies have an abysmal sales record. I don't think there has ever been an R rated movie that has made any sales records. Pirates of the Caribean
    Spiderman
    Star Wars
    ET

    Big movies are almost always PG-13 or below.

    Movies lose a huge amount of their audience if teenagers can't go see them without dragging their parents along to vouch for them.

  • merch

    Posted Sep 12, 2007 6:01 am GMT

    and r rated movies sell best see a connection.

  • SwatlordXXX

    Posted Sep 12, 2007 3:38 am GMT

    It's true, M-Rated games allow developers to be much more diverse and creative when making games. (Not that games can't be fun without the M-Rating.) That and violence is so widely accepted in today's gaming community that people tend to want gore and similar aspects which make games more intense, and well, just overall more fun.

  • Dreski83

    Posted Sep 12, 2007 12:48 am GMT

    kind of reminds me how everyone gave me a nasty eye when I suggested comic book movies should be more rated R... not for bare boobs and outrageous language... I just think a dude flyin thru brick walls and bleeding is pretty graphic

    there is such a thing as being explicit and tasteful...

  • 980658965659865

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 11:03 pm GMT

    In other shocking news, the sun came up this morning and pie tastes good.

  • Bill900

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 9:55 pm GMT

    This is because of the fact that M rated games allow developers to put in almost anything they please to make a game good.

  • ImperialPanda

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 9:04 pm GMT

    The only purpose this has is so the ESA has more stuff to throw around during the next court case. Does this "study" say anything about M rated games actually selling better than others? No. It's just a play on data to get the conclusion they want.

    The subjects included in this "study" are not representative of the majority because they only used the most recent generation. The install base is numerically insignificant compared to the last generation. Most of the people being represented in the research are "hardcore" gamers, first-adopters. Hence making the "M rating sells better" more overblown then it would otherwise be.

    Main lesson: don't always agree with everything you read. You can play the numbers game to "prove" anything you want. Overall this was a pretty pathetic attempt by the game industry. I wouldn't be surprised if it was funded by some industry association.

  • gradius2dx

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 8:14 pm GMT

    "It has nothing to do with the rating. Who wants to play [a game] when you shoot a guy nothing happens, he just falls down."

    Uh, Time Crisis, anyone? Virtua Cop, anyone?

  • Joe_Combat

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 5:03 pm GMT

    now all we need aresome AO games

  • veitari

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 4:57 pm GMT

    Not suprising. But to me it's not just because M rated games are better, just that I see more of them.

    Look at the entire XBox 360 game library, a huge portion of those are M-rated shooters, and all the upcoming games that I'm looking forward to are as well.

    Few games I have seen have a T rating, and even then most of them aren't so great. If developers don't focus much on games for a younger audience, this isn't much of a suprise. It doesn't help with the age groups of the ERSB rating system having quite large gaps between them.

    So long as the people making these game remember that more blood and swearing in a game, doesn't auotmatically make it a better game, then we'll all be happy gamers.

  • Holy_X

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 4:49 pm GMT

    BigDaveyDogz said
    "This is not surprising...since most gamers are 20+ (the first generation)" LOOK! BigDaveyDogz is right! BUT NOT IN A GOOD WAY. Your right MOST gamers might very well be the first generation and if "MOST" gamers are from the first gen, what does that say about the gamers behind us? It means GAMING AS WE KNOW IT MUST GROW OR DIE. Thank you Nintendo for taking that risk to reach out for the Non-Gamers! If this gaming world we all love, no matter the system, is going to keep going round and round, then we need to open others eyes to it!! We need fresh blood. Even the ones who make the games we so enjoy see that! Without younger ones to stand and write the next gaming chapter, our future of beautiful gaming is at risk! It would be great to see MS and Sony try even a little to grow our industry. What Nintendo is doing will only help gaming as a whole. 3 great systems...only one with a heart that beats for all gamers. Just wanted to share this point of view.

  • pencilpusher69

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 3:29 pm GMT

    The only problem with that theory, is that while the average may be true, the actual top selling games are almost all rated "E".

    Here's a fun article about the top 25 high selling games:

    http://www.gunslot.com/blog/top-twenty-five-25-best-selling-video-games-all-time

  • wertyui5467

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 3:27 pm GMT

    ...still Monster hunter is ... isn't rated M and in japan it's as good as mario here!!

    ...

    from my point of view Monster hunter is as under rated/under apretiated
    as HALO!!
    ya F*** HALO MH FTW!!
    ...lol...off topic lol
    ...M games arn't all good...

  • gamesfreak4ever

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 3:18 pm GMT

    they need more good games for the younger generation for many reasons
    1 more funner e rated games will make litle kids(anoying kids)stop yelling though the mic in games like gow
    2 they wont get sad and wont stop playng games online which is bad for companies

  • hitmanlee

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 3:01 pm GMT

    Anything good is M more times than not. This isn't a surprise.

  • Proman84

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 3:00 pm GMT

    Eat this Jack Thompson & ESRB!

  • peeweeshift

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 2:51 pm GMT

    the gaming demographic is growing but i still want to see some better games for the younger generation rated E-T cause without that gaming shall die. There wern't many games back when i was younger that were brutal cause kids were the demographic for games and people my age grew up with games so as we grew games became more mature. Nintendo is still representing but I want to see ms and sony do more of that. Microsoft is probably the worst for that but Sony does have a few good T games coming for their ps3. If Kids don't play games now then all we will get it a bunch of M rated games in the future.

  • uberjannie

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 2:46 pm GMT

    thats because most games get m rating? especially in USA.
    "oh no, you can almost see curves. *STAMP* M"

  • LittleYoshi

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 2:12 pm GMT

    Tanpreet:
    "no duh lol"

    better games are M rated.........not really true, but still. People want to see bloodly action!!!!!

  • Rusty--Toaster

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 1:50 pm GMT

    They rate on age which is whack because it should all be about maturity. There are some 13 year olds that are more responsible than 18 year olds! From my experiance most parents are totally oblivious ratings even exist!

  • redskinStu

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 1:45 pm GMT

    So the companies like EA, UbiSoft, etc. just need to bribe more reviewers to pander to them.
    That's easier than making creative, innovative games that earn good reviews by default.

  • mhrnw

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 1:38 pm GMT

    Adults have more money then kids. Adults like mature games more than kiddy games. What do you think this means?

  • digi_dragon324

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 1:30 pm GMT

    u no gears would have been Ao if the blood was ever a little more realistic. They were forced to make it look cartoony...

  • the_undisturbed

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 1:28 pm GMT

    reginator's list on the top 8 games sold
    proves that Mature games dont always sell the BEST

    i admit though
    mature games sell alot more nowadays
    but i wouldnt go to say that they sell the best

    Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros Brawl
    are the games (from big N) that can prove that mature games dont always sell the best

    but i do think nintendo might have to sooner or
    later start considering about making some
    mature games if they wish to appeal to the
    hardcore market

  • HeroofDark

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 12:58 pm GMT

    M Rating = Good Review is not a new concept. Think about some of the great movies of our time. Saving Private Ryan was rated R, was a box office sucess, grossing over $400 milion, and was highly acclaimed by critics all around. However, I can't help but think that if the content in Saving Private Ryan was in a video game (ex. in the beginning, there was a man lying on the ground with his guts spilling out screaming for his mother), it would get an AO rating.

    Also, though the best-selling games are not heavily M-Rated, and M games are not the most common, they do get more sales overall. I would cite the Metal Gear series as an example of how good M-rated games are, but enough people have done that for me already.

  • Tanpreet

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 12:50 pm GMT

    no duh lol

  • razu_gamer

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 12:42 pm GMT

    WOW, reginator, you really told thos anti-nintendo idiots. What the real truth is is SOny and MS are "maturing" the industry and showing the whole world how "adult" gaming is by making as much M rated games as possible.

    But what Nintendo is doing is showing the world how gaming works the correct way. Through unique software, innovation. Not by pumping out M games. And I hope for the sake of the industry that Nintendo succeeds and Sony and MS fail miserably. Go Nintendo.

Subscribe to GameSpot's YouTube Channel

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!