No ESRB/PEGI rating on the Steam Store page or PC website...

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Achenar459
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No ESRB/PEGI rating on the Steam Store page or PC website...

Postby Achenar459 » Sun Nov 20, 2016 9:51 am

http://store.steampowered.com/app/233450/

I bought Prison Architect for my son to play. We played the Prison Architect introduction together and out of nowhere my son was introduced to a nude scene... The characters were completely naked and there were sound effects.

The Steam Store page does not have a rating, so before I purchased the game I read the game description, read some reviews, watched the intro video, and checked out the developer's website which was linked from the Steam Store page. Prison Architect seemed to be a goofy game that he might enjoy. I'm fine with him seeing cartoon violence at his age. Nowhere in the game's description does it mention that it has Adult/Mature content. We've played The Escapists (a prison break game) together and it was totally fine. I assumed Prison Architect would be on a similar-level (that assumption proved to be wrong). Although this game is clearly marketed towards kids, the fact that it contains mature content and nudity means the game is not even remotely intended for kids...so why is there not a warning anywhere? If there is Sexual/Mature Content in a game, doesn't Steam require a Mature rating on the Store page, age verification, or at least information in the description that this sort of content is in the game so things like this wouldn't happen??? The cartoon violence isn't an issue, however the realistic drawn nudity is something I want to shield my kids from. Yes I'm American. Yes I hold to Judeo-Christian values. Yes I'm fine with him viewing cartoonized violence and Corporal Punishment in a Prison Setting.

Steam Support does not provide any Support for 3rd party games, so I'm here hoping that the game developer will update their Steam Store page to add a game rating, as well as information within the game Description stating that the game contains Sexual Content and Nudity. Also, the game's main website for PC does not have any of this information either... http://www.introversion.co.uk/prisonarchitect/pc.html
RGeezy911
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Re: No ESRB/PEGI rating on the Steam Store page or PC websit

Postby RGeezy911 » Sun Nov 20, 2016 11:17 am

From my understanding, since the PC version of Prison Architect is entirely digital (and not retail), there's no need for them to get the game rated. Retailers want all games to be rated when sold, but the PC version of Prison Architect is sold through the developer's website, and Steam. Remember, the rating is not mandated.

The Xbox and PS4 versions are sold retail, and on Microsoft's / Sony's online stores, which require a rating for those outlets to carry and sell the game.

As such, Steam won't show you the rating because the PC version was never rated. However, you can use the Xbox / PS4 ratings to guide your judgement. A simple search on ESRB's site would have given you the ratings for each platform rated: http://www.esrb.org/ratings/search.aspx ... 0Architect

Finally, not every game on Steam will show a rating. Even if it's a PC only game. ESRB can't get to every title, and even still, it's not mandated for a developer to get their game rated. You will have to do further research if this is the case before making a purchase for your child.
Achenar459
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Re: No ESRB/PEGI rating on the Steam Store page or PC websit

Postby Achenar459 » Mon Nov 21, 2016 6:36 am

RGeezy911 wrote:From my understanding, since the PC version of Prison Architect is entirely digital (and not retail), there's no need for them to get the game rated. Retailers want all games to be rated when sold, but the PC version of Prison Architect is sold through the developer's website, and Steam. Remember, the rating is not mandated.

The Xbox and PS4 versions are sold retail, and on Microsoft's / Sony's online stores, which require a rating for those outlets to carry and sell the game.

As such, Steam won't show you the rating because the PC version was never rated. However, you can use the Xbox / PS4 ratings to guide your judgement. A simple search on ESRB's site would have given you the ratings for each platform rated: http://www.esrb.org/ratings/search.aspx ... 0Architect

Finally, not every game on Steam will show a rating. Even if it's a PC only game. ESRB can't get to every title, and even still, it's not mandated for a developer to get their game rated. You will have to do further research if this is the case before making a purchase for your child.

Prior to my looking into this issue I had no idea I could look up ratings via the ESRB and PEGI site. I will be doing that in the future. As a PC user purchasing the game via Steam, I did not know this was a PS4 or XBox One game, but even if I did, I would not have expected the information provided to PS4 or XBOne customers would differ from the information provided to PC customers...

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