Age ratings: IARC, ESRB, PEGI
One questionnaire, many countries
Course 1 introduced IARC, the questionnaire that rates games in many stores. IARC "assigns the appropriate Age Rating, Content Descriptors, and Interactive Elements by region."
Its rating authorities include ESRB (US and Canada), PEGI (UK and Europe), USK (Germany), ClassInd (Brazil), Australia's Classification Board and GRAC (Republic of Korea).
Free for studios
IARC: "Obtaining ratings via IARC is free of cost to developers at this time." The stores pay IARC instead.
Each region's rules can give a different result from the same answers.
Quick check
Shard Garden answers the IARC questionnaire once. What does it get?
- A rating for each participating region
- One rating for the whole world
- A rating only for the US
Show the answer
A rating for each participating region
IARC assigns ratings by region, so one set of answers gives each region its own rating.
Interactive Elements
ESRB lists labels for online features:
- In-Game PurchasesOffers to buy digital goods with real money.
- Includes Random ItemsPurchases where the player doesn't know what they will receive.
- Users Interact"Possible exposure to unfiltered/uncensored user-generated content".
- Shares LocationShows a user's location to other users.
Labels, not ratings
ESRB: Interactive Elements "highlight interactive or online features that may be of interest or concern" but "do not influence the rating assignment of a product."
Quick check
Remy adds open chat to Shard Garden, rated Everyone. What changes?
- It gains the Users Interact label; the rating itself stays
- The rating becomes Teen
- Nothing at all
Show the answer
It gains the Users Interact label; the rating itself stays
Chat earns a label that warns parents. Interactive Elements don't change the age rating.
Ratings are checked
"IARC rating authorities monitor ratings assigned to ensure accuracy." "Corrections, if needed, are promptly implemented using APIs with storefronts."
When an update adds new content, Kai answers the questionnaire again.
Pick the label
The new season sells mystery seed packs for coins, and coins can be bought with real money. Which label?
- In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)
- Users Interact
- No label: the packs cost coins, not money
Show the answer
In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)
ESRB counts virtual coins that can be bought with real money. The player doesn't know which seeds they will get, so the packs are random items.
Read them yourself
Picking the right labels is a skill.
Bolt says: Next: read the labels for Shard Garden.
Fact-checked 12 October 2026
- IARC: How IARC works globalratings.com
- IARC: Participants globalratings.com
- IARC: FAQ globalratings.com
- ESRB: Ratings guide esrb.org