Classification and age ratings

Classification is the process by which a computer game distributed in Australia is assigned a category describing its suitability for audiences of different ages. The categories, the criteria behind them and the consumer advice lines that accompany them are published by the Australian Classification Board, which maintains a searchable record of classified titles.

For a reader deciding whether a game belongs in a particular household, the classification is a starting point rather than a complete answer, and the reasons for that are worth setting out precisely.

What the classification tells a reader

Each classified title carries a category and, in most cases, one or more lines of consumer advice naming the elements that drove the decision — violence, language, themes, and where applicable in-game purchases or simulated gambling. The advice lines often carry more practical information than the category itself, because two games in the same category can reach it through very different content.

The categories in use, which of them are legally restricted, and what a restriction means for sale and access are all matters set out by the Classification Board and by the legislation it administers. This site does not restate a category list or an age threshold, because those are published authoritatively elsewhere and a paraphrase here would add nothing and could age badly. The Classification Board's own site is the place to read them, and its database is the place to check a specific title before installing it.

What classification does not cover

Three things that matter to the readers of this library sit outside what a rating conveys.

The first is the economy. A classification describes content; it does not evaluate how a game paces progress, how insistently it prompts for purchases, or how much a competitive account typically costs over a year. A title can carry a general-audience category and still be built on the structure described in Free-to-play economies.

The second is ongoing change. A live-service game is not the same product a year after its decision date: new modes, events, chat features and purchase types arrive continuously. A classification attaches to the game as it was assessed.

The third is other players. Classification addresses what the publisher supplies, not what strangers type in a chat channel or say in a clan. For that dimension the relevant material is published by the eSafety Commissioner, which covers online gaming, chat, and reporting routes for abuse directed at children and adults.

In-game purchases and simulated gambling as advice lines

Where a game contains purchases or content resembling gambling, that can appear in the consumer advice attached to the classification. The presence of such a line is a signal to read further rather than a verdict: it states that the element is present, not how prominent it is or what it costs.

Randomised purchasable rewards are the element most often raised in this context, and the way they are treated has been examined by Australian bodies more than once. This site does not characterise any mechanic as gambling under Australian law, and it does not present purchasable randomised items as suitable for minors. The mechanic, with the arithmetic underlying it, is discussed in Randomised rewards and summoning odds.

These three can disagree about the same game without any of them being wrong, because they answer different questions. A reader checking suitability for a household should look at the first; a reader wondering why a sign-up was refused should look at the third.

Practical steps for a household

• Look up the title in the Classification Board's database and read the consumer advice lines, not only the category.
• Check whether the game includes chat with other players, and whether it can be restricted or disabled in settings.
• Set purchase controls at the platform level, where they apply to every game rather than one. Stored payment methods are the mechanism behind most unexpected charges; see In-game purchases and consumer rights.
• Read what the publisher's terms say about minimum age for an account, which is a contractual matter separate from classification.
• Where the game is run on a shared desktop computer, consider which account on that machine it runs under; see Desktop play.

Where this sits in the library

Classification answers a narrow question well and is often asked to answer broader ones it was not built for. The broader questions — what the game costs over time, what the draws actually deliver, what the account holds and who can reach it — are the subject of the other entries here. For the title this site links to, the vendor's own description is summarised in Raid: Shadow Legends at a glance; its Australian classification is a matter for the Classification Board's database rather than for this page.