Entertainment Software Rating Board

The Entertainment Software Rating Board was established in 1994 by the Interactive Digital Software Association for the purpose of regulating and enforcing ratings and advertising guidelines for video games in North America. Game publishers voluntarily place one of eight ratings designated by the ESRB on their game and advertising materials with a brief pre-written description of the content that has earned the game that rating. While the ratings are voluntary most retailers will not sell a game without an ESRB review and many will not sell a title that has earned an AO (or "Adults Only") rating.

The ESRB Rating:
 * EC (Early Childhood)
 * E (Everyone)
 * E10 (Everyone 10 and older)
 * T (Teen)
 * M (Mature)
 * AO (Adults Only)
 * RP (Rating Pending)

Games that include an online component are tagged "Game Experience May Change During Online Play" to give notice to users that the online content may not fall into the same rating category as the game due to possible user-generated content.