Starfield, the highly anticipated space-themed action role-playing game from Bethesda Game Studios, has been classified as “Restricted” in Australia. The game’s classification was determined by the Australian Classification Board, which noted that the game features “moderate impact” language and themes, “strong impact” violence, “very mild impact” nudity, and “restricted” interactive drug use.
Starfield is set in the year 2330, where players take on the role of a space explorer seeking rare artifacts throughout the galaxy. The game takes place in The Settled Systems, an area that extends outward from the Solar System for approximately 50 light-years. Players will navigate this vast expanse in Bethesda Game Studios’ biggest and most ambitious game to date.
Starfield represents the first new intellectual property by Bethesda Game Studios in over twenty-five years, and has been described by director Todd Howard as “Skyrim in space”. The studio had been exploring space-themed games since as early as 1994, but it took a while to cement the ideas behind Starfield that would distinguish it from other science fiction games already released.
The game’s classification as “Restricted” in Australia means that it is not suitable for minors under the age of 18. Interactive drug use is a major factor in this rating, as it is a theme that has been deemed to be inappropriate for minors. It is important to note that Australia has some of the strictest video game classification laws in the world, and games that are classified as “Restricted” are not allowed to be sold or rented to minors.
As for its rating in the rest of the world, it is still listed as pending for ESRB and PEGI, so we will have to wait and see what rating it receives from them.
Starfield is scheduled to be released on September 6, 2023, for Microsoft Windows and Xbox Series X/S.