Hello everyone,

forgive me if this topic has already been discussed - if that is the case, my searches must have missed it.

I was wondering about the age/content ratings requirement for indie titles released either via content delivery systems, such as Steam, or
even directly via your website. Are such ratings in any way obligatory and imposed? From what I've read, it seems that there is a legal
requirement for ratings for retail games (so they would have a rating on digital distribution channels anyway).

Some indies were discussing this issue at http://forums.indiegamer.com/showthread.php?t=17184, but they did not reach anything conclusive.
Has anyone had any experience with this problem or knows how these ratings work for indie games? Thanks

It depends on location.

Some countries (like the UK, Australia, China, and others) have government-mandated ratings if you are sufficiently large commercial entity or meet other criteria.

Some governments (like Australia and China) use the ratings system for censorship purposes.


In most of the free world you are free to distribute mainstream games online without any ratings, but you need to verify against your local laws. If your material is outside the mainstream, such as sexual content or graphic violence, governments like to become involved.

Fair point. Many thanks for the reply, frob!