Breath of the Wild sequel rated by ESRB

The much-anticipated sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been rated by the USA’s classification body ahead of its release

The highly anticipated sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been rated by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), suggesting that development of the game is nearing completion.

The rating was first noticed by Twitter user Genki, who discovered that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom had been rated on Nintendo’s own website. Previously, the site listed that the game as rating pending, but the listing now says that it’s rated E10+, exactly the same as Breath of the Wild.

The rating information says that it received this rating for “Fantasy Violence” and “Mild Suggestive Themes”, which means that it should be okay for most children to play too. Breath of the Wild had similar content warnings, but also included “Use of Alcohol”, which is absent from its sequel’s rating.

The ESRB is the USA’s equivalent to Australia’s Classification Board, in that it provides ratings and classifications for video games to help parents and purchasers make informed decisions about the content in those games. Unlike the Australian Classification Board, the ESRB only classifies video games, not films and TV shows.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will likely be one of the biggest game launches of 2023. Picture: Nintendo

The ESRB is overseen by the Entertainment Software Association, an industry body representing most major publishers, including Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony. In the US, it’s not strictly required for a game to be rated to be sold, but most stores and digital publishers won’t carry a game that hasn’t been rated by the ESRB.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild first released alongside the Nintendo Switch when it was launched back in 2017. It received near-universal acclaim for its open-world design and creative combat mechanics, and its sequel, due to launch on May 12, looks to build upon the first game with new tools and abilities for players to try out.

Despite the buzz around the new game, Nintendo has been in a bit of hot water lately. A UK consumer rights group found that Nintendo Switch controllers have a “design flaw”, after testing a series of Joy-Con controllers for the cause behind a fault known as “drift”.

Nintendo also had to promise to fix the new Pokemon games, after they launched in a buggy state. Players shared clips of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, which launched in November, on social media, showing that the game was filled with bugs, glitches, and performance issues.

Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.