We have a few new details about Cyberpunk 2077’s adult content. The Australian Classification Board just gave Cyberpunk 2077 an Adults Only 18+ R classification, which is their equivalent to the M rating in the US. So what’s in Cyberpunk that Australia considers adults only? The Classification Board’s report focuses primarily on the sexual content in the game of which there’s apparently a cyber-truck load. According to the report, Cyberpunk features first-person sex scenes that are not interactive, full-frontal female nudity—no word yet on any Robo dongs—and partial nudity like bare breasts and buttocks. Sex can also be initiated with sex workers in the game as well as sex without a service transaction, which is totally how an android would describe romance. You can also visit a sex shop in the game.
Inside the sex shop are various mannequins quote “posed inside glass cabinets and various sexual positions, including a simulation of rear entry sex.” And there are apparently dildos galore because, you know, it’s a sex shop. Wow. Is it getting hot coffee mod up in here? But it’s not all kinky, fun and games in Cyberpunk 2077. The report also details a scene involving someone implied to be a sexual assault survivor. No sexual violence is shown, but sexual violence is, quote, “at times inextricably linked with the narrative.” And when it comes to violence, the game likewise isn’t shying away. The report details the damage the guns of Night City can do, saying gunfire wounds caused, quote, “generous and blood mists and sprays and may also result in the severing of limbs and in some cases, decapitations.” You can see some of this on display in gameplay footage released by CD Projekt RED, as well as hundreds of previously released video games. So what kind of rating will Cyberpunk 2077 have in North America?
On ResetEra’s message boards, commenters are claiming the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, which slaps a rating on every game released in the U.S., has given the game an ‘M for Mature’ rating. And for Europe, the game will receive a PEGI 18 rating, the rough equivalent. But a search on the ESRB’s web site doesn’t turn up anything official about Cyberpunk 2077. And the game is still showing a ‘Rating Pending’ sticker at retailers like Best Buy and GameStop. Titles with excessive violence and gore, like Mortal Kombat, tend to get the M rating in the US. But the ESRB does reserve a rating above M for games that really push the envelope.
The dreaded AO Adults Only rating has been given to a handful of games and is always a death knell for titles sales figures since almost no retailer in the US will carry AO titles. Case in point, when the hot coffee content was found in retail copies of Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, the ESRB reclassified the games as adult only. Retailers stopped selling the games until new versions with the content patched out could be delivered to stores. So the apparent abundance of sexual content in Cyberpunk 2077 get it slapped with an AO rating? We won’t know until we see it pop up. But we do know that CD Projekt RED isn’t making a kid’s game, even a little bit. Responding on Twitter to questions around the game’s content, Cyberpunk’s lead Quest designer tweeted: How often do you pay attention to a game’s ratings? For you gamer parents out there, have you discussed your kids with the ratings mean? Do ratings actually influence your purchasing decisions? Weigh in on the comments below.
