ESRB Changes Oblivion Rating to Mature

The Entertainment Software Ratings Board has changed the rating of popular PC and Xbox 360 game Elderscrolls IV: Oblivion From T (teen) to M (mature) after apparently pondering the blood and gore for a month and a class 5 nipple alert.

According to the ESRB statement:

"The content causing the ESRB to change the rating involves 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.”

The rating change parallels the infamous “hot coffee” scandal that rocked Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas where players could access a sexually explicit minigame through third party software. It is currently unknown if the ESRB is aware that a person can mod a topless skin into almost every computer game using “third party software.” Players are also cautioned not to peek under their shirts due to an extreme risk of seeing not just one, but possibly two dirty dirty nipples.

Currently there is no way for 360 users to access these fleshy abominations.

Since we don't know what version the ESRB used to rate the game in the first place, we cannot be sure if additional gore was added to the game before release. However, since the game has involved violent bloody stabbing of monsters and people with a sword since the earliest screen shots, it seems unlikely that gore was the main reason for the change.

Perhaps it’s time the ESRB placed a new label on all game boxes: WARNING: this game, like all software can be modified by someone on the internet to include content unsuitable for minors.