Halo 5 Teen rating to improve sales
Every Halo FPS game released up to this point has been rated M-for-Mature, but Halo 5: Guardians changes that, by getting a T-for-Teen rating. Xbox marketing executive Aaron Greenberg spoke a bit about Microsoft’s reaction to the rating and how it will affect sales.In an interview with Gamespot, Greenberg explained it was odd that past games in the series were given an M rating, considering the non-graphic violence. He also compared the effect of the T rating to that of Destiny, allowing for the game to reach more players that it would have otherwise.
Every Halo FPS game released up to this point has been rated M-for-Mature, but Halo 5: Guardians changes that, by getting a T-for-Teen rating. Xbox marketing executive Aaron Greenberg spoke a bit about Microsoft’s reaction to the rating and how it will affect sales.
In an interview with Gamespot, Greenberg explained it was odd that past games in the series were given an M rating, considering the non-graphic violence. He also compared the effect of the T rating to that of Destiny, allowing for the game to reach more players that it would have otherwise.
“I do expect the T rating will help game sales. Core Halo fans are going to buy the game no matter what the rating is, and I think we’ve seen that,” he surmised. ”A lot of people were surprised that previous Halo games were M-rated sort of given the style of the game and the lack of real graphic violence and things like that. We’re pleased with the rating.
“And so, I think if you look at how Destiny has done with the T rating, you look at how some of the other shooters have done with a T rating, we believe there is an audience of fans, particularly younger fans and parents that don’t let their kids play games that are M-rated. Being able to have a T-rated game will sort of put this game on the approved list for a broader audience which we think is a good thing,” Greenberg explained.
Halo Wars and Halo: Spartan Assault received T ratings in the past, but both were departures from the main series and neither matched the marquee titles in sales. Halo 5: Guardians launched on Xbox One October 27. See Gamespresso’s review of the Fall blockbuster here.