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ESRB Changes Icons for Video Game Ratings

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The Entertainment Software Rating Board has changed its video game ratings icons in order to make them easier to understand in the new digital age.

The ESRB removed the phrase “content rated by” leaving only its logo beneath the rating.

The ESRB President, Patricia Vance, said:

“The goal is really to ensure that our symbols are displaying as clearly and legibly as possible in the increasing variety of environments that they’re being displayed [in], including online and [on] mobile devices.”

“As our ratings are increasingly used in digital environments we’ve recognized the need to tweak them so they’d display a bit more clearly, especially on smaller screens like mobile devices. So, for example, removing the small ‘Content Rated By’ text just helped create a cleaner look without losing any of the symbol’s meaning.”

Vance continued,

“Publishers are being asked to begin using the new icons going forward, and materials like retail signage will be swapped out over time as opportunities to do so arise.”

“We believe that consumers, especially parents, benefit from having a consistently applied set of ratings for games rather than a fragmented array of different systems. So we continue to keep a number of game and app storefronts apprised of our efforts and will continue to work toward broadening the use of our rating system.”

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