Cyberpunk 2077 Dev Reacts to Leaked 18+ Rating: "You Surprised?"
It seems to take more to earn an 18+ rating in Brazil, but 2077 looks to have landed it.
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From the debut of its very first teaser trailer in 2013, it's been clear that Cyberpunk 2077 would stay true to the genre's standard bearers and the tabletop series it draws from by dealing with dark, difficult subject matter. In Brazil, it looks like Cyberpunk 2077 will land at an 18+ rating, though only because of one of the dozens of attributes the country's board evaluates.
The content specifications, which were reportedly available for a brief window on Brazil's official Minstry of Justice ratings advisory website, have seemingly been confirmed by CD Projekt RED's Lead Quest Designer Pawe? Sasko, who retweeted a screenshot of the list. "You surprised?" Sasko writes of the 18+ rating with a smirking emoji. "We don't f**k around."
Brazil's advisory rating system is unified across video games, film, and television. It assigns one of six ratings (L for all ages, 10+, 12+, 14+, 16+, 18+) based on a list of criteria that are logged for each age range. For instance, the English version of Brazil's official ratings guide specifies that a display of a weapon with intent of committing violence warrants a 10+ rating, while actually showing a violent act warrants a 12+ rating. Both notices are included in full rating specifications.
The list retweeted by Sasko, then, covers everything from Cyberpunk 2077's all ages-rated themes (weapons without violence, moderate or hinted use of illicit drugs) to the appearance of related, more serious content (mutilation, depicted consumption of illicit drugs). For brevity's sake, here's every aspect Brazil appears to have rated 14+ or higher:
- Descriptions of illicit drug consumption or trafficking (14+)
- Sexualization (14+)
- Sexual exploitation (14+)
- Intentional death (14+)
- Nudity (14+)
- Prositution (14+)
- Sexual Relationship (14+)
- Use of illicit drugs (16+)
- Mutilation (16+)
- Intense sexual relations (16+)
- Suicide (16+)
- Cruelty (18+)
Many of the aspects for which Cyberpunk 2077 only earns a 14+ or 16+ rating, such as depiction of illegal drug use and the inclusion of sexually explicit scenes, would likely bump it up to a Mature 17+ rating under the American ESRB. "Cruelty" is the only line it seems Cyberpunk 2077 crosses into 18+ territory; The English language version of the guide defines it as covering any "realistic scene of violence, in a sadistic way, and which inflicts intense physical pain." There are several 18+ violence criteria and a few for drug use and sexuality that seemingly are not crossed in Cyberpunk 2077.
Earlier this month, CD Projekt RED's Adam Badowski announced that Cyberpunk 2077 has already been rated "by the vast majority" of rating boards for the territories it will release in. Had Cyberpunk 2077 not been delayed to September 17, 2020, it would've needed to pass through ratings evaluations much earlier, but now it serves as a good sign that it will make its new date despite CD Projekt's transition to remote work during the pandemic.
