An Entertainment Software Rating Board has stated in a recent e-mail notice that all game publishers must check and lock their codes to prevent from hacking them before distributing.
In that e-mail sent out to all game publishers by the ESRB, it states:
“Fully disclosing hidden content accessible as Easter eggs and via cheat codes has always been part of ESRB’s explicitly stated requirements when submitting games to be rated. In the July 20 public announcement, which focused on the revocation of a specific game’s rating assignment, we formally stated that any pertinent content shipped on the game disc that may be relevant to a rating must be disclosed to ESRB, even if it is not intended to ever be accessed during game play.”
“Coding around scenes, images, or similar elements that might be pertinent to a rating assignment does not render this content irrelevant from a ratings standpoint. If a publisher wishes to “edit out” pertinent content from a final product, it must remove the content from the disc altogether. If that is not feasible, the pertinent content must be disclosed to the ESRB during the rating process so it can be taken into account in the assignment of a rating.”
“If you fail to notify us of previously undisclosed, non-playable, pertinent content by January 9, and such content becomes playable through a subsequent authorized or unauthorized release of code to unlock it, rendering the original rating assignment inaccurate, punitive in addition to corrective actions may result.”
“ESRB remains concerned about third party modifications that undermine the accuracy of the original rating, and we are exploring ways to maintain the credibility of the rating system with consumers in light of modifications of this nature.”
