Assassin's Creed Mirage Has Been Rated Adults Only By The ESRB For "Real Gambling"

thegamer.com:

Assassin's Creed Mirage has been rated AO for Adults Only by the ESRB due to its "real gambling", implying that it'll contain lootboxes of some kind and also making it the first-ever game developed by Ubisoft to receive the rating.

Yesterday, Ubisoft held its first Ubisoft Forward showcase of the year, providing updates on games like Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, The Division Heartlands, and Just Dance 2023. Of course, the highlight of the show was the Assassin's Creed 15th anniversary showcase, which revealed several new titles in development including next year's game, Assassin's Creed Mirage, which was presented as more of a traditional experience for the series.

Related: What Do We Actually Want From A Back To Basics Assassin’s Creed?

One detail that was easy to miss in all the excitement was that the ESRB has rated Mirage AO, which stands for Adults Only, due to its "real gambling". This rating could be spotted during the reveal trailer and can now be seen on the Xbox store's listing, which seems to imply that it's legitimate and not some kind of mistake. There's also no mention of it being a temporary or provisional rating, so it seems set unless Ubisoft changes something.

For those unaware, there are only 33 games that have been given an AO rating between 1993 and 2018, including the likes of Manhunt, Outlast 2, and Agony. The reason that Mirage has joined the ranks of these notoriously violent and controversial games is that the ESRB now considers any game with "real gambling" to be worthy of an Adults Only rating.

By "real gambling", the ESRB means in-game virtual gambling that you can spend real-world money on. Due to recent changes to the ESRB guidelines, lootboxes are considered a form of gambling since