‘Assassin’s Creed: Mirage’ Rated “Adult Only for “Including Real Gambling. So, Why Don’t Loot Crates Count?
The last game to receive an Adult Only rating was 2018’s Agony. Although it was later changed. Will Assassin’s Creed: Mirage change as well?
Ubisoft Forward occurred over the weekend and showed off a lot of the things we can expect from Ubisoft in the near future. One of those titles was Assassin’s Creed: Mirage.
Longtime fans of the Assassin’s Creed series are excited for something new being brought to the franchise but noticed something they probably did not expect.
As of the time of this writing, the XBox Store lists Assassin’s Creed: Mirage as rated Adult Only. They note the rating due to Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Partial Nudity, Real Gambling.
Adult-Only Games are Very Rare
The last game to be given an AO rating was 2018’s Agony, a violent “survive in Hell” kind of game. However, the rating was eventually switched to M before release. Prior to that 2015 had 3 titles which did release with the AO rating: two literal pornographic games and Hatred. Hatred was generally panned by critics as just being murder porn, and after the initial controversy of its existence, it kinda just disappeared.
Why Don’t Loot Crates Count as Gambling?
However, Assassin’s Creed: Mirage getting an AO rating is notable. Although, it is highly unlikely this rating will stick. But, this is an interesting conversation in a world of microtransactions.
Real money loot crates have been a thing for years now and have never been considered “gambling”. This is presumably only because the end result is in-game items, not real-world money in return. It seems like a fine line between the two.
Whether or not Assassin’s Creed: Mirage will maintain its Adult Only rating is a story worth keeping an eye on. If gambling is mechanically ingrained into the game, they might need to do some hefty reworking to make it no longer count as “gambling”, if they want to eschew the dreaded AO on the game box.
