Can post launch DLC affect a game's rating?

[Keela]

So yesterday I was looking at a thread on this very forum announcing the latest about DOA5's wobble physics. Someone said something along the lines of "Why doesn't Team Ninja have the stones to just cut to the chase and make the characters go nude?" To which another Escapee responded "That would push the game into the much-dreaded territory of the "Adults Only" rating, meaning that most stores would refuse to carry it."
So I got to thinking: What if it was post-launch DLC? The game will have already passed through the ESRB (or your local equivalent), so would our beloved ratings boards be able to change the game's classification? The adult content would be off-disc though, so would it be fair to adjust the rating of a product already on shelves if the content has to be purchased elsewhere?
This same question applies to games in general, DOA5 is just a relevant example.

Captcha: "abide with me"
I don't know if God can help us if Team Ninja's marketing team gets any INGENIOUS ideas.

 

[hazabaza1]

I'd assume the DLC itself would be adults only.
Since you need to sign up to some sort of service to buy it, it'd make sense to have an 'adults only' purchasable thing. If you go online with it, I guess people under the adults only age just wouldn't see your characters with the DLC equipped?

 

[mad825]

If needed be, DLC content can be rated separately. This is often the case.

 

[Frankster]

I support the idea of an ALL nude character DLC (meaning its both guys and girls ).

 

[Fappy]

I support the idea of an ALL nude character DLC (meaning its both guys and girls ).

Oh god, can you imagine all of the Russian guys grapples being performed nude?

"I'MA BREAK YO NECK! NOW SMELL MY BALLS!"

 

[Keela]

I'd assume the DLC itself would be adults only.
Since you need to sign up to some sort of service to buy it, it'd make sense to have an 'adults only' purchasable thing. If you go online with it, I guess people under the adults only age just wouldn't see your characters with the DLC equipped?

Would that prevent someone who purchases the content from playing with people who don't? Or could the non-consumer's screen just show a default costume? That seems like the most logical way to handle things. Or maybe that could be a setting?
Surely we've run into these sorts of costume-adjustment scenarios before.

 

[linwolf]

This have already been answered. Total War: Shogun 2 is rated 16+, but it have a DLC called blood pack that adds more blood and killing animations that is rated 18+.

 

[LostCrusader]

I remember hearing that the rating for oblivion was originally T, until they heard about a nudity mod (not even an official DLC) which caused them to up the rating to M. They even raised the rating for the xbox version of the game, even though they could never use it.

Even if DOA5 did create a nudity dlc and the rating stayed the same, I doubt that the online services would want to offer it.

 

[ElPatron]

Many games, like CoD4, could be played in dedicated serves where admins have full control on the mods used.

"Online Content not rated by ERSB" appears right in the intro screen.

So a game shouldn't be rated for content it does not include. In theory.

 

[tippy2k2]

http://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_process.jsp

The important part for you is at the bottom but here it is copy/pasted if you don't like links from strangers on the internet:

Downloadable Content
Downloadable content (DLC) that will be appended to an existing, previously-rated product need only be submitted to ESRB for rating if its content exceeds that which is in the existing "core" product. Otherwise, the rating assigned to the core product is applicable to the DLC as well. Where, however, DLC content exceeds the rating assigned to the core product, it must be submitted to ESRB and a different rating may be associated with this DLC.

As to your specific DLC idea, Microsoft [http://siliconangle.com/blog/2010/12/29/microsoft-vows-to-block-ao-rated-games-from-the-xbox-360-console/], Sony, and Nintendo [http://www.gamespot.com/news/sony-nintendo-forbid-ao-rated-manhunt-2-6172830] have all made it publicly known in statements that they will not allow "Adult Only" rated items onto their systems.

Microsoft:
"Xbox is a family friendly games and entertainment console and does not allow Adults Only (AO) content to be certified for use on its platform, and would not condone this type of game for Kinect."

Sony:
"It's currently our policy not to allow the playback of AO-rated content on our systems," a Sony spokesperson told GameSpot.

Nintendo:
"Games made for Nintendo systems enjoy a broad variety of styles, genres, and ratings," a representative told GameSpot. "These are some of the reasons our Wii and Nintendo DS systems appeal to such a broad range of people. But as with books, television, and movies, different content is meant for different audiences. That's why the ESRB provides ratings to help consumers understand the content of a game before they purchase it. As stated on Nintendo.com, Nintendo does not allow any AO-rated content on its systems."

 

[hazabaza1]

I'd assume the DLC itself would be adults only.
Since you need to sign up to some sort of service to buy it, it'd make sense to have an 'adults only' purchasable thing. If you go online with it, I guess people under the adults only age just wouldn't see your characters with the DLC equipped?

Or could the non-consumer's screen just show a default costume?

I'd say that one. Costumes don't have any gameplay effect so letting non-consumers play with consumers would be all good.