God of War gets ESRB rating; Violence, weapons, and more described

With many games, especially ones that are part of a long-running series, you can usually predict what they’ll be rated. As expected, Sony’s upcoming God of War sequel/soft-reboot will be rated M but the rating description gives hints as to what we’ll be seeing in the anticipated 2018 title.

For starters, it sounds like nudity has been removed from the game as the ESRB makes no mention of it. This may come as a surprise for longtime fans due to how sexual some of the previous games are but given the story and tone of this one, it makes sense as to why they have moved away from a Kratos with a high sex drive in God of War.

The description which has since been removed (read below) notes things like iconic God of War weaponry like double-chained blades, dragons, and also a scene where Kratos (or someone else) decapitates a prisoner and carries their head around, possibly as a trophy.Content Descriptors: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language

“Rating Summary: This is an action-adventure game in which players assume the role of half-human, half-god-like Kratos as he battles supernatural forces with his son. From an over-the-shoulder perspective, players travel through the Norse wilderness and use axes, double-chained blades, and swords to battle various enemies (e.g., rival gods/demigods, monsters, dragons, skeleton warriors). Combat is frequent and often bloody, with characters punching and kicking each other repeatedly, using bladed weapons to slash/stab/impale enemies. Larger enemies and bosses are dispatched in more intense sequences of violence: Kratos slashing and stabbing a dragon’s tongue; a character using an axe to hook and tear off an ogre’s jaw. During one sequence, players decapitate (off-screen) an imprisoned character and carry the severed head around; headless corpses also appear in other scenes. The words “f**k” and “a*shole” appear in the dialogue.”

It’s also worth noting that games usually get rated by the ESRB very, very close to release. It’s highly likely we’ll be seeing God of War get a release date in the first couple months of 2018, possibly releasing before May or June. A leak earlier this month suggested it could release in March but nothing has been confirmed.

God of War will release sometime in 2018.