Game Rating Systems: Korea's GRAC, ESRB, PEGI, and CERO

On one side of a game box or an app store page, there's always a small label: "12+," "T," "PEGI 16," "CERO B," and so on. These labels are age ratings that tell you not how difficult a game is but what age its content is suitable for.

Each country has a different rating body, different criteria, and different legal force. The same game can be rated 15+ in Korea but receive PEGI 12 in Europe. In this post, we explain how Korea's Game Rating and Administration Committee (GRAC), North America's ESRB, Europe's PEGI, and Japan's CERO came about and what ratings they use, as well as how rating systems are changing with the arrival of online payments and randomized paid items.

Why Were Game Rating Systems Created?

Most game rating systems started from a social concern that "children are buying violent or sexual games without any restrictions." In the 1990s, as graphics became more realistic and games using live-action video appeared, these worries grew.

There are two main types of rating systems. One is statutory review, where a government agency or a body established by law sets ratings, and the other is self-regulation, where the industry creates and runs its own body. Korea is closer to the former, while ESRB, PEGI, and CERO basically started as industry self-regulation. However, even self-regulation has strong de facto influence because retailers and platforms don't accept unrated games.

Korea: Game Rating and Administration Committee (GRAC)

In Korea, games were originally reviewed by the Korea Media Rating Board along with films, music records, and other media. After the 2006 "Sea Story" (Bada Iyagi) scandal involving gambling-style arcade games became a major social problem, the Game Rating Board, dedicated solely to games, was launched in October 2006 under the Game Industry Promotion Act amended that same year. The organization became the Game Rating and Administration Committee in December 2013, and it is headquartered in Busan.

GRAC assigns the following four ratings based on sexual content, violence, antisocial content such as crime and drugs, language, and gambling elements.

As an exception, arcade games use only two ratings: All Ages and Adults Only. Games that far exceed the criteria are refused classification and cannot be distributed in Korea.

A distinctive feature of the Korean system is its strong legal force. Games distributed in Korea must in principle receive a rating, and the committee also handles crackdowns on illegal games and post-release monitoring. That doesn't mean the committee reviews every game directly, though. Self-rating operators designated by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism can rate the games offered on their own platforms according to set criteria. This mechanism exists to realistically manage app stores where countless games are uploaded every day. The committee also joined the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) in December 2017.

North America: ESRB

The ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) is the rating body used in the United States and Canada. At a 1993 US Senate hearing, violence in games like Mortal Kombat became an issue, and to avoid government regulation, the industry created this self-regulatory body itself in 1994. It was founded by what is now the ESA, the US game industry association.

The main ratings currently in use are as follows.

• E (Everyone): All ages
• E10+ (Everyone 10+): Ages 10 and up, introduced in 2005
• T (Teen): Ages 13 and up
• M (Mature 17+): Ages 17 and up
• AO (Adults Only 18+): Adults only
• RP (Rating Pending): Awaiting rating

There used to be an EC (Early Childhood) rating for young children, but it was retired in 2018. ESRB ratings aren't law, but because major console manufacturers don't approve unrated games and many retailers don't carry AO games, they effectively function as market rules. Besides the rating, content descriptors and notices indicating online interactions or in-game purchases are also attached.

Europe: PEGI

PEGI (Pan-European Game Information) is a common rating system used in most European countries. It was created by the European game industry association and came into use in April 2003, unifying rating systems that had previously been separate in each country. Germany, however, uses a separate body called USK.

PEGI uses five numeric ratings.

Pictogram descriptors for violence, fear, bad language, sexual content, gambling, drugs, discrimination, and in-game purchases are also attached to explain why the rating was given.

The biggest recent change is that PEGI has begun reflecting game features themselves in its ratings. Since June 2026, PEGI has been evaluating elements such as in-game purchases, paid random items, communication features, and mechanisms that encourage continued play for newly reviewed games. Starting in October 2026, it is also raising to PEGI 16 the ratings of digital-only games already rated PEGI 3, 7, or 12 that include paid random items such as loot boxes. Ratings that once looked only at content are now looking at business models too.

Japan: CERO

CERO (Computer Entertainment Rating Organization) is Japan's game rating body. It was established in June 2002 as a division of CESA, the Japanese game industry association, and later became a specified nonprofit corporation.

The current system, in use since March 2006, shows ratings with letters.

• A: All ages
• B: Ages 12 and up
• C: Ages 15 and up
• D: Ages 17 and up
• Z: Ages 18 and up only

Of these, only Z carries sales restrictions; the rest are advisory. Before the 2006 revision, all ratings were advisory, but after adult games became subject to sales restrictions in some regions, the industry voluntarily introduced the Z rating to block sales to those under 18. CERO defines "prohibited expressions" that aren't allowed even at the highest Z rating, so games are often released in Japan with some scenes modified from the overseas versions.

The Four Systems at a Glance

The same game gets different ratings in different countries because societies are sensitive to different things. Some are stricter about violence, others about sexual content or gambling elements.

Ratings in the Digital Age: IARC and App Stores

Countless games are uploaded to app stores and digital storefronts every day. It's impossible for people to play and review all of them directly. So in 2012, ESRB, PEGI, Australia's rating authority, Germany's USK, and others came together to create the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC).

Under the IARC approach, when a developer answers an online questionnaire about the game's content, ratings tailored to each country's criteria are generated automatically all at once. Korea's GRAC participates as well, and stores such as Google Play use this system. If a developer answers the questionnaire untruthfully, the rating can be changed or sales restricted through post-release checks.

Summary: Rating Labels Are Information for Parents and Players

Game ratings are less a tool for censoring games and more an information label that helps buyers know the content in advance. Especially if your children play games, it's a good idea to look not just at the age number but also at the attached content descriptors and whether there are in-game purchases or online communication.

Rating systems are still changing. Where they once looked only at what appears on screen, payment structures and mechanisms that encourage continued play are now becoming rating criteria too. For game makers as well, it's increasingly important to keep the rating criteria of the countries they plan to launch in in mind from early in development.

References

• Game Rating and Administration Committee self-rating system
• Game Rating and Administration Committee - Wikipedia (Korean)
• ESRB Ratings Guide
• PEGI: What do the labels mean?
• PEGI: Updates Age Ratings of Existing Games with Paid Random Items
• CERO official site
• International Age Rating Coalition