Witcher 3 - Editorial @ Cheat Code Central

Contributing Writer Jason Messer has a new article on Cheat Code Central where he talks about how the ESRB rating of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt should be Adult rated.

Don’t get me wrong; blood, violence and nudity can sometimes be a perfect recipe for a fun experience (God of War or GTA anyone). Frankly, I hope Witcher 3 makes its money back ten times over! The take away from this article shouldn’t be that I’m in any way calling for the removal or censorship of its artistic expressions. Quite the contrary. I say if it fits with the creator’s vision…add more for all I care! The point is it once again reflects our broken rating system that needs to be fixed ASAP. “Not tomorrow. Not after breakfast. NOW!” as the warden of Shawshank would say.

However, giving Witcher the legit AO rating it deserves would result in certain death. It would have a hard time finding space on store shelves, and would ultimately doom the title to failure. It’s the worst scarlet letter that can possibly be given in our industry. So am I to honestly believe there is not SOME happy medium? Are we forever destined to live with these skewed labels which result in games being sold to inappropriate audiences on one end of the spectrum, vs. bankrupting the company who made them on the other?