Starfield's ESRB Rating Appears To Have Been Revealed By Bethesda

A 'mature' experience like other Bethesda games

by Liam Doolan Sun 7th May 2023

Bethesda's new sci-fi RPG Starfield is on the horizon, and it seems some new information about the game may have been revealed.

On Starfield's official Twitter, the banner image for the account has been updated - revealing what appears to be the ESRB rating for the anticipated title. It seems it will be rated 'M' for Mature (17+) and contains violence, blood, suggestive themes, strong language and the use of drugs.

This is in line with the ratings of other Bethesda titles like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and entries in the Fallout series. An official description for Starfield's rating should be published on the ESRB in the near future. Earlier this year in March, Starfield was rated R18+ in Australia for containing "interactive drug use".

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Xbox is hosting its Games Showcase on 11th June, and more details including "tons of new gameplay" is expected to be shown during the special Starfield Developer Direct. Xbox's boss has also mentioned how an update will be provided about the game's frame rate on Xbox ahead of its September launch.

What do you make of this rating? Leave a comment below.

[source twitter.com, via windowscentral.com]

Liam is a news writer and reviewer for Nintendo Life and Pure Xbox. He's been writing about games for more than 15 years and is a lifelong fan of Mario and Master Chief.

1
Destoroyah2021
Sun 7th May 2023

Starfield will either be a masterpiece or mediocre. It all depends on if Todd and Phil get their ***** together and if it launches in a completed state. Both fallout 76 and ESO were made by much smaller and inexperienced teams compared to the ones that made Skyrim and fallout 4 as well as they were using a engine that was never meant for multiplayer. Starfield is using a completely new engine, has the main development team working on it and is exclusive to Xbox and PC meaning the resources that would have gone to a PS5 version can go to bug fixing and developing content. If it’s everything we’re being promised then it could easily be a strong contender for game of the year (but ToTK will probably take it). But if it launches in a mediocre or buggy state then I don’t think Xbox and Bethesda will recover from that backlash.

2
SplooshDmg
Sun 7th May 2023

Rated B, for buggy.

3
TheSimulator
Sun 7th May 2023

No stiff movements please

4
HonestHick
Sun 7th May 2023

I think they get this one right. Now i don’t think this game alone will save Xbox from it’s bad 2022 and so/so start to 2023, but if this is 9’s and Forza should be easy 9’s. Throw in a few other small titles and MAYBE Hellblade 2 for late 2023 and that would be a massive year for Xbox. With Avowed getting closer to completion and others for 2024, we could be seeing the start of great things for first party Xbox output. I am not ready to write off ABK deal and a great June Showcase and even a Xbox hater has to give us some positive looks. Take that momentum into 2024 and doubters start to become possible Xbox owners. Starfield is the start of the shift or the end of convincing us they have a clue. Hate to give one game all that weight to bare but it seems like where the road has lead.

5
UndyingInsurgent95
Sun 7th May 2023

My gut tells me that this will be an amazing game. Might be a tad bit broken at launch, but an awesome game nevertheless. After the whole Redfall fiasco, I'm 100% certain that Microsoft is calling for all hands on deck to get Starfield in the best shape possible.

6
Ephexis83
Sun 7th May 2023

The Bethesda deal is the reason I came to Xbox, so I'm so excited over Starfield as Skyrim was awesome.

Bethesda are a great company

7
Darude84
Sun 7th May 2023

I guess this is a positive sign it will actually come out in time? I’m so thrilled for this game, I’m sure it will be magical.

8
Ephexis83
Sun 7th May 2023

@Darude84 A game that never ends like Skyrim

9
BAMozzy
Sun 7th May 2023

It was ALWAYS going to be Rated for Mature gamers - the fact they have a 'Pleasure City' with 'Drugs' was always going to make this a game for Adults - even without any 'violence or strong language'...

10
LordFunkalot
Sun 7th May 2023

This needs to be good otherwise it’s another massive nail in the Xbox coffin. Hopefully they won’t disappoint. Not an RPG fan but everything is crossed. I hope starfield is the turning point. They need to quality control the hell out of this after Redfall.

11
Ralizah
Sun 7th May 2023

I'm remembering the expectations of Cyberpunk prior to release, and how drastically they differed from the final project. I don't think Starfield will be as unfinished as that was at launch, but I do feel like going in expecting some 11/10 game that will be the savior of the Xbox brand is just setting yourself up for disappointment.

That's not because I think Bethesda will do a poor job. I think it'll be great, and I'm excited to play it. But the reality is never going to live up to unlimited expectations.

12
Realist
Sun 7th May 2023

Rated E for Ewwww 30 fps.

13
BAMozzy
Sun 7th May 2023

I really don't expect a game of this scale, with all the player choice and freedoms, to be 'perfect' at launch. Its impossible to test 'everything', every potential way gamers will play, every potential 'order' for missions/side-missions and repercussions etc etc and as for the 'performance', Bethesda have never released anything 'perfect' so I don't expect this to be 'perfect'. I hope its 'better' than F76, better than Skyrim was but historically, the evidence doesn't lead me to a different conclusion.

Of course, if it is the 'best' game ever by Bethesda, at least from a technical perspective, that's great, but I don't 'expect' that and no evidence exists to think this will be 'perfect' at launch. I do expect it to be a lot more 'polished' than Fallout76, but not 'flawless'.

I also don't think it needs to be a 10/10 - its still just a 'Single' game that won't appeal to everyone regardless - some may not have the 'time' to invest the hours into a game like Starfield. It, along with Avowed, Hellblade, Perfect Dark, Fable etc etc are 'ALL' going to help Xbox break the 'conversation' that Xbox has 'no' games except Forza, Halo, Gears. If Forza is a 10, that won't make a difference on its own.

As MS said, even if Starfield is an 11/10, it isn't suddenly going to 'save' Xbox, see them radically close up that lead that Playstation 5 continues to increase. With Spider-Man 2 coming as well, an IP much 'bigger', much more well known and 'loved' outside of Gaming and ONLY on Playstation (unlike Starfield which can be played on PC/Steam & Cloud too) means its likely to help increase the lead Sony has.

If Starfield is an 8/9, its still a 'great' game and adds to Xbox Exclusives competing for Consumers. Along with Forza, Hellblade, MSFS, Avowed, Perfect Dark, State of Decay and all the 'other' games, that's what you buy an Xbox for - the games you can't play on other Consoles - same as you buy a Playstation for their exclusives - not just 1 in particular as its very expensive to play just '1' game if you need to buy Hardware specifically to play it too...

14
Deljo
Sun 7th May 2023

Interactive drug use??? So do I need to be stoned to play? Done & done 😁

15
Edward1871
Sun 7th May 2023

Removed - unconstructive feedback

16
Sol4ris
Sun 7th May 2023

@Wheatly

Nothing short of 10/10 is going to be good enough to be honest.It needs to be the reason to own an Xbox console.If it is more Fallout 76 than Skyrim this gen is over for Xbox

At this point I don't think it really matters how Starfield scores in reviews. Sure it cannot be released in a Redfall state, but there will be folks who will enjoy the game even if is not a 10/10, while others will keep the Xbox is doomed prophecies going stronger than ever....its a bit of none news really 😁.

Edit: You don't need an Xbox console to play Starfield, this is a Microsoft release not a Sony one.

17
Sol4ris
Sun 7th May 2023

@Edward1871

Why is everyone on this site so negative

Its because everything Xbox sucks is quite a popular and in vogue topic at the moment. Perhaps it will fade after a while, it also looks like in the last few weeks PX has seen a huge increase in Sony fans voicing their concerns about Xbox😉

18
SplooshDmg
Mon 8th May 2023

@Sebatrox Uhhhh... I wouldn't count on that. Bethesda games had same sex romances way before Horizon.

19
BacklogBrad
Mon 8th May 2023

Least surprising news ever.

20
nomither6
Mon 8th May 2023

M games are the best games , no limitations

21
SplooshDmg
Mon 8th May 2023

@nomither6 I want an M rated Sonic where Sonic says swear words and kills hookers.

22
nomither6
Mon 8th May 2023

@SplooshDmg No , shadow the hedgehog is all you get . that’s enough edginess for a lifetime

23
themightyant
Mon 8th May 2023

I still think Xbox is going to have a good 2023. I just don't think it will be the A+ many of us hoped for after 2022 was mostly a whiff.

It starts with the showcase. Ideally for me mostly concentrating on the next 12 months but also with a couple of further ahead announcements (New Vegas 2?). Some easy wins like a Fallout HD Collection. They are likely having to remove the ABK stuff they had planned (e.g. a large game pass drop) Hopefully some third party exclusives. But mostly Starfield hitting and good gameplay updates on the dozen or so games we know are in development preferably with dates, plus a few surprises. Maybe a shadow drop.

It's been an uneven year so far, but I think they can still recover.

24
somnambulance
Mon 8th May 2023

@themightyant This. This is what I’m hoping for and expecting. Honestly was sort of hoping Planet of Lana was saved for this showcase as a shadow drop instead of just quietly given a release date with no fanfare, but I could see Silksong being a shadow drop as a way to gain massive goodwill. I think Xbox learned from Hi-Fi Rush that they can do high magnitude goodwill moves that’ll actually get people talking. Pretty sure Hi-Fi had the most launch buzz of an Xbox exclusive since Halo Infinite. It’s definitely going to end up being an uneven year, just by how badly Redfall flopped after all the other bad, but the year could be salvageable. This could be the year Xbox woke up?

25
themightyant
Mon 8th May 2023

@somnambulance Don't tease me with that Silksong shadow drop chat.

Did you play the Planet of Lana demo? Sadly while beautiful I thought the gameplay was severely lacking. (i'll still play it) and perhaps it was just an early vertical slice and the game is better, but my expectations are way down.

More generally it seems to be a running theme of some Game pass exclusive, stunning or unique visuals but not hitting the Game Play mark. Things like Sommerville, The Last Case of Benedict Fox, Trek to Yomi, Ravenlok etc. it's a shame the gameplay can't match the visuals.

On a more positive note Hi-Fi Rush was a great shadow drop, as was Goldeneye, though it was more a curio than a great game in 2023. But I agree I think they will shadow drop something.

26
GuyinPA75
Mon 8th May 2023

It doesn't matter the rating. The eagle eyed cyborg gamers will hate and review bomb the game if any thing less than, 8k running 120 fps.

27
somnambulance
Mon 8th May 2023

@themightyant I agree with you. Gamepass has a bad habit of overselling 5/10 or 6/10 tier games as something really big or important, though they’re fully visual titles.

I’m saddened to hear that Planet of Lana may fall into that category, but I was also expecting Somerville to be special too. I’ve not tried the demo. I was hoping it’d be similar to Inside.

Honestly, with the quality of games on Gamepass this year, I would have un-subbed after the mess of Redfall if my son didn’t love playing the random games on the service. I’m hoping the June showcase gives ME something to enjoy on Xbox though. Hi-Fi Rush was great, but that’s the only new title I’ve enjoyed on the service in 5 months (and Goldeneye, but Goldeneye’s an ancient game and my nostalgia glasses were cemented onto my face… when I played it on NSO instead of Gamepass).

I expect a big shadow drop… because they did one before and they need positive PR more now than before. I’m hoping for Silksong, but also sort of ambivalent. It’s hard for me, personally, to be like too excited about a shadow drop beyond the semantics of it with such a heavy gaming schedule for me the next two-three months, but I’d love to see Xbox make me contemplate playing something in tandem with Zelda, FF, and Pikmin (and Bat Boy! That little indie title looks phenomenal. Gamepass drop, please?)

28
themightyant
Tue 9th May 2023

@somnambulance personally I wouldn’t unsubscribe because I still like the variety it brings and one of my favourite aspects is the 6 or 7 or even 8 out of tens that I would likely never buy but end up loving. (Quite happy to pay for the 9s and 10s and maybe some 8s)

Especially the games that really stick with me that are often flawed. Scorn would definitely fit into that camp. It has some truly awful checkpointing, terrible combat and more… and yet I can’t stop thinking about it. Unique.

Slightly less so Benedict Fox, which was borderline broken in some ways and frustrating at times. Yet it was unique enough in some elements that I think it will stick in my head far longer than many much more polished games.

There’s also the much better inside and AAs I never would have bought that are great like Tinykin, The Artful Escape, The Forgotten City, Escape Academy etc.

And those I might have bought but glad I didn’t spend £XX on like Atomic Heart, High on Life etc

All in it still offers great value to me. But yes it’s been less good of late

29
somnambulance
Tue 9th May 2023

@themightyant See, I feel like Gamepass had some real hits last year: Beacon Pines, Immortality, Signalis, Vampire Survivors, etc. And I’m really happy when we get the unique games on the service. I was really critical of Gamepass last year too, but warmed on it around September-ish since it finally started to feel like it had better value. This year, I’ve only used it to play games I’m glad I didn’t buy. High on Life, Atomic Heart, Redfall, etc. It’s made me critical again. I know it’ll improve. It always does. It just gets hard to remember in the months I don’t personally use it. It feels like they backload every year on the service. I need to remember sometimes how crazy Gamepass felt when it was a brand new service and be grateful. There’s bound to be a hit soon, right?

30
somnambulance
Tue 9th May 2023

@themightyant By the way, glad you liked the Forgotten City. If I remember correctly, I recommended it to you long ago on these forums. One of my all-time favorite games. My wife made me merch for it since there’s no real merch. Lol.

31
nomither6
Tue 9th May 2023

@GuyinPA75 that is hilarious lol!! 🤣😂😂 “eagle eyed cyborg gamers” lmao , damn that was good 😂 i gotta use that

32
themightyant
Tue 9th May 2023

@somnambulance definitely last year had more games I enjoyed.

Honestly I can’t remember who recommended The Forgotten City to me - but then I can hardly remember what I had for breakfast yesterday - but I am thankful, that was wonderful and MEMORABLE. The older I get those are the games I clamour for more and more and what I love about game pass so much. It allows us to try the more risky games we might not buy and are often far from perfect but stick with you.

As for the merch, sounds like the wife is a gem! ❤️

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