WWE 2K14 Release Date, Roster & Features: ESRB Imposes 'TEEN' Rating for Violence and Alcohol
WWE 2K14 has already received its ESRB rating and it looks like younger gamers won't be getting the video game for Christmas.
With its release date set exactly two months and a day away from this writing, publishers are trying to keep everything WWE in line already. After, releasing news about roster additions and a special Phenom Edition game box set, 2K has finally received word on the rating imposed on the video game.
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has already released the official content summary for WWE 2K14 and announced a "TEEN" rating for the video game. According to the official rating information posted on the board's website, the video game features "Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence" that are not suitable for younger gamers.
The Rating Summary reads:
This is a wrestling simulation game in which players can select real-world competitors from the WWE roster, compete in matches, and progress through multiple storylines. Players perform a variety of wrestling moves (e.g., grapples, holds, throws), as well as punching and kicking attacks. Sledgehammers, chairs, and tables can also be used to strike opponents; blood sometimes appears on wrestlers' faces.
ESRB also noted that female wrestlers - also known as Divas - often act suggestively and wear provocative clothing.
"Some women are depicted in outfits that expose large amounts of cleavage; female wrestlers occasionally make provocative gestures (e.g., pelvic thrusts, wiggling their buttocks in front of opponents' faces as a taunt)," the board noted.
It also said that a strong reference to alcohol was depicted in the video game, including "a wrestler wearing a 'Drink Beer' shirt and spraying his opponents with a 'beer truck' hose; a wrestler drinking from beer cans" - much like Stone Cold Steve Austin, eh?
According to the ESRB Ratings Category guide, the "TEEN" rating is generally suitable for gamers that are 13 years old and up. A more lenient rating would be "Everyone 10+" which will be appropriate for gamers 10 and up. Considering that one video clip on the WWE 2K14 "briefly depicts the word 'sh*t' on a fan's sign, and a wrestler can be seen sticking out his middle fingers," it seems that a "TEEN" rating is just suitable for the game.
Notably, while today's real WWE tries to preserve its PG (Parental Guidance) rating on TV, according to Just Push Start, WWE 2K14 will feature many things that have made the World Wrestling Entertainment a true hit in the '90s - blood, chairshots to the head and swearing.