It doesn't appear to be an issue, not in the US anyway. This is straight from the ESRB's website:
So how I read that is, any video game, regardless of how it is distributed, is not required by law to be rated. But virtually all retailers and distributors won't approve your game for distribution unless it has a rating. However I'm not going to be distributing this game in any way other than accessing it directly on the website.
Quote:The rating system is voluntary, although virtually all video games that are sold at retail or downloaded to a game system in the U.S. and Canada are rated by the ESRB. Many U.S. retailers, including most major chains, have policies to only stock or sell games that carry an ESRB rating, and console manufacturers require games that are published on their systems in the U.S. and Canada to be rated by ESRB.
The ESRB is one of the founding rating authorities of the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC), which administers a streamlined process for assigning age and content ratings to the high volume of digitally delivered games and mobile apps coming into the market today. The Google Play store and Firefox Marketplace are among the app storefronts that have deployed the IARC rating system, which facilitates the display of ESRB ratings on devices in North America.
Quote:While the ESRB does not have the ability to enforce its ratings at the retail level, it does work closely with retailers to display information that explains to customers how the rating system works. Moreover, major retailers have established their own store policies requiring age verification for the sale or rental of M (Mature) and AO (Adults Only) rated games, and ESRB actively encourages and supports these efforts
Quote:A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2011 (Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association/Entertainment Software Association) found that video games are a constitutionally-protected form of expression, and that laws restricting their sale or rental based upon violent content are unconstitutional.
So how I read that is, any video game, regardless of how it is distributed, is not required by law to be rated. But virtually all retailers and distributors won't approve your game for distribution unless it has a rating. However I'm not going to be distributing this game in any way other than accessing it directly on the website.