Yesterday we reported that the Entertainment Software Rating Board had changed the rating for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion from T (Teen) to M (Mature). Today Bethesda Softworks released an official response to the change.
The game maker says that it "handled the ratings application before the ESRB, and stands behind it," adding that it made what it says "was a full, accurate, and comprehensive submission on Oblivion to the ESRB... it adhered closely to their requirements. Nothing was hidden from the ratings agency." This is a direct response to the ESRB's report that Bethesda did not fully disclose all the content pertinent to giving Oblivion a proper rating.
However, Bethesda says it "will not contest the ESRB's decision to re-rate the game as Mature and promises that it will "promptly implement the ratings change." The developer also states that they will not modify any of Oblivion's content to get back its original "T" rating.
In response to the supposed nudity in the game, Bethesda says, "There is no nude female character in a section of the game that can be unlocked." The release goes on to explain that there is no nudity in Oblivion at all "without a third party modification" and details that "In the PC version only -- this doesn't apply to the Xbox 360 version -- some modders have used a third party tool to hack into and modify an art archive file to make it possible to create a mesh for a partially nude (topless) female that they add into the game."
The most potent part of the release is where Bethesda says that it "cannot control tampering with Oblivion by third parties." Currently, Bethesda is working on ensuring that modders can no longer put partially nude figures into its game.
