Surprise! Bayonetta 3 has violence and partial nudity

Bayonetta 3
(Image credit: Nintendo)

The official eShop page for Bayonetta 3 has been updated with a new ESRB rating, which is adding fuel to the fire of rumors about an impending release date reveal.

You can see the rating for yourself over on the eShop, but descriptors include violence, blood and gore, partial nudity, and strong language - pretty much all the hits you'd expect from a new Bayonetta game. There's also an 'in-game purchases' tag, though the ESRB's application of that descriptor tends to be pretty broad, often including games that simply offer the option of major DLC expansions.

As noted by users on Reddit, a July 6 version of the store page archived on the Wayback Machine does not include the ESRB rating, hinting that this rating was recently delivered. There's also no entry for Bayonetta 3 on the official ESRB site just yet.

The ESRB rating comes as the Bayonetta 3 rumor mill has begun grinding harder than ever. Twitter user Syluxhunter, who seemingly confirmed some of the content of last month's Nintendo Direct Mini before it was broadcast, has now claimed that Bayonetta 3 news is set to drop "tomorrow," July 13. This is the same leaker who previously suggested that Bayonetta 3 is scheduled to launch on October 28, 2022.

You should certainly take all those rumors with a grain of salt, but despite the lack of news around Bayonetta 3 since a bit of gameplay footage was revealed last September, Nintendo has recently insisted that the game's still on track to launch sometime in 2022.

Fans have been afraid of a Bayonetta 3 delay given its absence from recent Nintendo broadcasts.

Dustin Bailey
Staff Writer

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.

Read more
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
As Death Stranding 2: On the Beach gets rated in South Korea and Hideo Kojima appears to tease a new trailer, a release date seems more likely than ever
Silent Hill f
Silent Hill f's ESRB rating has zero chill: "Faces ripped apart," "a character burned alive inside a cage," and "entrails and sinew displayed on serving platters"
Screenshot from the puzzle game "Hentai Girls," showing a girl with purple hair in a maid outfit.
Loads of NSFW "Hentai" games have disappeared from the Switch eShop, sparking hopes Nintendo is taking moderation more seriously
Silent Hill f
Silent Hill f may be the scariest game in the 26-year-old series, or at least the first one rated 18+ in Japan
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot of a Mega Lucario standing in a street.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A is breaking years of tradition to get 10+ age rating, and I think I might know why
Silent Hill f
After 2 years of deathly quiet, Silent Hill f has seemingly resurfaced as it gets a rating in South Korea along with Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2
Latest in Action
Naoe and Yasuke walk in the sunset in a screenshot from Assassin's Creed Shadows
Following Assassin's Creed Shadows controversy, Baldur's Gate 3 publishing director says "every big AAA game could be better," but players shouldn't be mad "just because some dude told you to"
Assassin's Creed Shadows Wanted Status
How to remove Wanted status in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Naoe kills a target with a black and white filter over the camera highlighting the red of blood spray in Assassin's Creed Shadows, with an On The Radar orange frame
Assassin's Creed Shadows "has a little bit of Tarantino flavor", but its real secret ingredient is intrigue: "It's almost like you're watching an episode of Shogun"
God of War
20 years later, God of War's original monster art has been revealed: behold this army of stick figures slapped on a whiteboard, no clue Kratos is coming for them
Assassin's Creed Shadows Naoe facing off against samurai warrior on red bridge
An Assassin's Creed Shadows fan is showing off some of the RPG's most impressive little details, and it's done more to get me interested than Ubisoft ever did
Assassin's Creed Shadows Yaya shouting at Tetsuo
How to recruit Yaya in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Latest in News
Lies of P art showing P walking in a snowy forest
Lies of P director loves FromSoftware and respects the Soulslike tag, but says "I'm really serious, I'm not lying, I'm very truthful, our focus is to create our own style of game"
Tony Dalton as Jack Duquesne
Daredevil: Born Again fans are loving the MCU cameos in this week's episodes – especially the Hawkeye reunion
Naoe and Yasuke walk in the sunset in a screenshot from Assassin's Creed Shadows
Following Assassin's Creed Shadows controversy, Baldur's Gate 3 publishing director says "every big AAA game could be better," but players shouldn't be mad "just because some dude told you to"
Chris Hemsworth's name on the back of a director's chair
Marvel's Avengers: Doomsday cast reveal live blog
Screenshots from the Alien Evolved Edition TRPG teaser trailer
Alien Evolved Edition TRPG just burst through the million dollar crowdfunding mark with the vigor of a face-hugger on steroids
Halloween director John Carpenter
15 years on from his last horror movie, Halloween's John Carpenter says he'd "love to direct again" – but he has one condition