I think [the ESRB] came off like a school yard bully, rather than an industry partner. Why all the threats right off the bat? If the ESRB people know what was being said about them in underground channels, so to speak, they’d see that their antics have caused them much loss of faith as an industry leader.

It's unfortunate that Mr. Miller's feelings were hurt, but let's be clear. The ESRB is the self-regulatory body for the video game industry. We were established by the industry and we simply enforce the rules and guidelines that the industry has imposed upon itself... We created a standard notice by which to do so, and that's precisely what Mr. Miller received...

Many other companies have received similar notices over the years and not one of them has ever complained about their tone... We're hardly the heavy-handed bullies that Mr. Miller is painting us as. Tough love might be a better way to describe it.

It would seem that the ESRB may be caught between a rock and a hard place, industry observers note - if it fails to enforce its regulations, critics take it to task; if it enforces the rules, the industry balks.

I can see how the same correspondence to a developer who may not have on-staff council could be interpreted more harshly in tone than intended, as seems the case here. Honestly, I believe this is more a case of that than anything with malice.