Methodology: how we check and label
Every fact has a source, a date and a status chip.
Status labels
Every fact on this site carries one of four labels. Hover over a label to see its meaning.
| Label | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Primary source | Checked directly at the rating board (ESRB, USK, PEGI, CERO …), Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive or the platform holder. The label describes where a fact comes from. This site itself is an unofficial fan project. |
| Per reviews | Taken from a review published by the named outlet. |
| Community-confirmed | Read directly at a community source (forum poll, fan market, subreddit), or confirmed by two independent community sources. |
| Unverified | Known only from a single secondary source, or not checkable at the origin. Treat with caution. |
When a status changes, for example when a board publishes an entry we had only from press reports, we update the label and the “last updated” time of the page.
Age ratings
- We check each board’s own database or website and record the exact time of the check (“last checked”).
- If a board’s database cannot be reached or has no entry, we say so and use a press report, labelled Unverified.
- We list content descriptors by name, as the board publishes them. We do not describe individual scenes.
- We do not use the boards’ logos or rating icons. The badges on this site are our own text graphics.
The ink scale
Each content topic gets a five-step scale drawn as stamp ink, from faint to full. The darker the ink, the more strongly the rating boards flag the topic. The step comes only from the wording the boards publish, never from our own play or from reviews:
| Step | Ink | Meaning | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blank | not flagged | No board we checked lists a descriptor for the topic. |
| 2 | Faint | referenced | One board lists only its mildest wording (for example ESRB “Drug Reference”). |
| 3 | Light | flagged | A middle wording, or mild wording at two boards. |
| 4 | Dark | strongly flagged | The strongest wording of one board (for example ESRB “Strong Language”), or a descriptor that has no weaker level. |
| 5 | Full | strongest wording at several boards | The strongest wording at two or more boards (for example ESRB “Intense Violence” and USK “Drastische Gewalt”). |
The ESRB publishes graded descriptors (Violence → Intense Violence, Language → Strong Language, Drug Reference → Use of Drugs, Comic Mischief → Crude Humor → Mature Humor). The USK distinguishes “Gewalt” from “Drastische Gewalt”. Descriptors we know only from press reports, such as those in the pulled PEGI listing, are not used. A topic without a published descriptor shows “Not rated yet” instead of a guess.
The scale measures how the boards label the game. It is not a measure of danger, and it does not say how often something happens.
Review scores, predictions and voting
Since 9 November 2026 the review score log, the prediction archive and the community vote are on our sister site gta6rating.com. The old addresses on this site forward there. This site covers age ratings, the parents’ guide and this methodology.
What we do not do
- No own gameplay, no own screenshots or video, no settings or performance tests.
- No leaked material. If a leak is newsworthy for a rating, we mention it in text only, without images or video.
- No Rockstar Games logos, key art or trailer stills.
- No affiliate links and, currently, no ads.
- No cookies.
Writing and responsibility
Texts are written by the editorial team (“Redaktion”). Drafts may be prepared with AI writing assistance; every page is checked against its sources and approved by the person responsible under § 18 (2) MStV named in the legal notice before publication.
Corrections and contact
Please send corrections, missing reviews or rating changes to the e-mail address in the legal notice.
Change log
- New home page: the Rating Passport. Pick where you live and the player's age to see the rating as a stamp.
- Rechecked ESRB (unchanged, M 17+) and PEGI (still no entry). The USK title search returned no titles at all today, not even for older games, so we treat it as an outage and keep the USK 18 from our check on 11 Nov plus the USK article "GTA VI ist ab 18!". CERO Z could not be confirmed at CERO and stays unconfirmed. · Source
- The site is now English-only. The German pages moved into the English parents' guide (section "In Germany"); old German addresses forward to their English pages. The first status label is now called "Primary source".
- Rechecked ESRB, USK and PEGI at the source. No change: PEGI still lists no entry for GTA VI. · Source
- Added the dusk scale: one step per content topic, derived only from the rating boards' wording. · Source
- Review score log, prediction archive and community vote moved to gta6rating.com. This site now covers age ratings, the parents' guide and methodology.
- Site published. ESRB, USK and PEGI checked directly; USK 18 is now confirmed in the USK database (previously known only from press reports). · Source