About ESRB
We are the non-profit, self-regulatory body for the video game industry. Established in 1994, our primary responsibility is to help consumers – especially parents – make informed choices about the games their families play.
What We Do and Why
Our rating system was established with the help of child development and academic experts, based on an analysis of other rating systems and what parents need from an effective rating system. We found that consumers respond best to an age-based rating system that also includes impartial information about the actual content of a game. As games evolved, further research showed that parents place equal importance on receiving advance notice about the ways which some games are played, such as interacting with other players online and spending money to purchase in-game items.
Our three-part rating system includes Rating Categories to suggest age-appropriateness, Content Descriptors to indicate what type of content may have triggered the rating, and Interactive Elements, which advises about sharing the user’s location with other users, in-game purchases, user interactions, and unrestricted internet access. The result is a rating system that is widely adopted by game publishers, supported by retailers, regularly used by parents and consistently described by regulators and opinion leaders as the most effective entertainment rating system in the U.S., if not the world.
We are also responsible for enforcing industry-adopted advertising guidelines, and helping to ensure responsible web and mobile privacy practices under the ESRB Privacy Certified Program.
Meet Our Executive Team
Patricia E. Vance is the president of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). In her position, she leads the teams responsible for assigning age and content ratings to video games and apps, enforcing marketing guidelines adopted by the video game industry, and operating ESRB Privacy Certified, an FTC-sanctioned COPPA Safe Harbor Privacy seal certification program.
