The US senator behind the ESRB age rating has passed away

Joe Lieberman was aged 82.
Text: Kieran Harris
Published 2024-03-30

US senator Joe Lieberman, known among other things for having run for the vice presidency in 2000 alongside Al Gore, has passed away, aged 82. In the gaming world he is primarily known as the creator of the ESRB (Entertainment Software Ratings Board), which still rates games today.

The story goes that Lieberman, along with party colleague Herb Kohl, reacted to the violence and nudity of Mortal Kombat, Doom, and Night Trap in the early 90s, and felt that a consistent system was needed to label violence, sex, alcohol, and other "adult " topics.

Lieberman's commitment to the morally "right and proper" has occasionally been mocked and satirised in the media. Among other things, in how Mortal Kombat implemented friendships (as opposed to fatalities) in the sequel in 1993.

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