As revealed by the game's Twitter account banner a couple of days ago, Starfield has been rated by the Entertainment Rating Software Board (ESRB) in the United States.
The page is up now on the ESRB website, providing a few interesting tidbits on the game, such as confirming that Starfield does actually feature sex, unlike what we were led to believe by the Australian rating board. The description mentions a few phrases uttered by non-player characters after 'sharing a bed' with the player character. Then again, it's likely there is no visual depiction of the activity, which is why the Australian board didn't consider its impact in their evaluation of the game. Of course, modders won't hesitate to change that in relatively short order after the release date.
The ESRB also confirms that there will be missions in Starfield where the player character can work in an 'illicit drug lab' to manufacture the fictional Aurora drug.
This is an open-world role-playing game in which players assume the role of a miner tasked with finding Artifacts across the galaxy. From first-/third-person perspectives, players interact with various characters, complete quests, and search for supplies while battling enemies (e.g., humans, robots, alien creatures). Players use futuristic guns, lasers, axes, and explosives to kill enemies. Combat is fast-paced, with frequent gunfire, cries of pain, and explosions. Attacks on some enemies can result in blood-splatter effects; several environments depict blood stains on the ground around corpses. The game contains some suggestive material in the dialogue, and after sharing a bed with characters (e.g., “Life is a sexually transmitted disease that's a hundred percent fatal”; “I'm all for getting a little wild, but next time let's try it without the jetpacks”; “Talk about seeing stars, whew… that was amazing.”). A fictional drug (Aurora) is prominent in the game, with a section involving players' characters working in an illicit drug lab; players can also obtain Aurora by stealing or buying it from vendors (consuming Aurora results in a distortion effect on the screen). The words “f**k” and “bullsh*t” appear in the game.
In slightly over a month, Starfield fans are expecting to receive a boatload of new information from Bethesda Game Studios. The 'Starfield Direct' official live stream will air immediately after the Xbox Games Showcase on June 11th. Game director Todd Howard will likely showcase the main gameplay features as he did with Skyrim and Fallout 4.
Meanwhile, read up on everything we know about Starfield in our article.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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