Leth confirmed this post to be accurate! See in this video at 2:28:

Original post

Leth said so himself:

If a game releases on online storefronts only, they can use the IARC instead.

All that requires is filling out a questionnaire. No build necessary. You just need to have a page for your game on the online stores.

Here's the USK site confirming this:

The result then gets converted to an ESRB, Pegi or USK rating and will appear as one on the store sites.

The game does not have to be complete or even be in a playable state for these ratings to appear. Sorry guys.

Responding to arguments in the comments:

EDIT 1: People in the comments say you also need proof that you answered honestly, but I can't find evidence for that on the website and no one provided any either. This is a graph for how it works, and it really does seem like you only need to answer questions:

EDIT 2: If you think Silksong will release physically, look at Leth's tweet again. He counters "Silksong can't release next 6 months cause ESRB" with "That is only necessary for physical releases". This argument would make no sense if Silksong released physically day 1. Therefore, Silksong will most likely launch digital only and only get a physical version later.

The award show has finally finished and it's time to look at the results!

As a reminder, the 10 award categories are:

-Best meme

-Best meme creator

-Best comment

-Best fanart

-Best fanart creator

-Best daily series

-Best Silksong content creator

-Craziest user (credit: ***)***

-Best user (credit: ***)***

-Most mentally deranged post

Now, without furtur ado, here are the results:

Best Meme

1st Place: Bait used to be believable (original creator: )* - 43.3%

2nd Place: Silkposting (Pretending Silksong is out)** - 22.2%

3rd Place: Meeting Team Cherry (original creator: ) - 20%

4th Place: Fishing minigame (original creator: ) - 12.2%

*If someone posted a bait used to be believable meme before SharpteethStudio, please let me know
**Unkown creator, let me know if you are the original creator

Best Meme Creator

1st Place: - 18.9%

2nd Place: - 17.8%

3rd Place: - 5.6%

4th Place: - 3.3%

Best Comment

1st Place: "I hope they add a fishing minigame" by - 44.4%

Tied for 2nd Place: "Ok this is actually just a fucking cult" by - 16.7%

Tied for 2nd Place: "Everyone on the sub gets put on thewheel, winner gets permabanned" by - 16.7%

4th Place: "I would castrate myself for Silksong" by - 13.3%

Best Fanart

1st Place: "Never finished this but Hornet Fishing" by - 40%

2nd Place: "One must imagine Hornet happy" by - 30%

3rd Place: "drawing drip bugs until Silksong cameout" by - 16.7%

4th Place: "Heard you guys were looking foremojis?" by - 11.1%

Best Fanart Creator

1st Place: - 24.4%

2nd Place: - 14.4%

3rd Place: - 11.1%

4th Place: - 6.7%

Note: These users are the creators of the nominees for the Best Fanart category

Best Mini-Series

Tied for 1st Place: "Making a meme from every second of the trailer" by - 32.2%

Tied for 1st Place: "Watching the Lorax everyday until Silksong comes out" by - 32.2%

3rd Place: "Daily Silksong Art" by - 22.2%

4th Place: "Learning something everyday" by - 2.2%

Note: There will be no tie breaker for 1st place

Best Silksong Content Creator

1st Place: Cadaea - 34.4%

2nd Place: Stizzl - 23.3%

3rd Place: watermaaron - 5.6%

4th Place: Tevmes' fox - 2.2%

Craziest User

1st Place: - 33.3%

2nd Place: - 7.8%

Tied for 3rd Place: - 5.6%

Tied for 3rd Place: - 5.6%

Best User

1st Place: - 14.4%

2nd Place: - 12.2%

3rd Place: - 8.9%

4th Place: - 5.6%

Most Mentally Deranged Post

1st Place: "I met William and Ari at McDonald's" by - 54.4%

2nd Place: "This is a threat. Release the game Team Cherry" by - 25.6%

3rd Place: "I love my silksong" by - 12.2%

4th Place: "[Update] Fake silksong news andshitposts" by - 5.6%

Final note: The rest of the % were votes for "None". That's why they don't add up to 100.

Congratulations everyone! Everyone here has made an impact on our community, and I'm not talking about the nominees. Every person who made a comment, made a post, upvoted or downvoted, reported someone or went insane has helped our community grow and become an amazing (and sometimes crazy) place for every Hollow Knight / Silksong fan!

Now for the rewards:

Every winner/nominee will be given custom user flairs. You should receive them in the next 2 days.

Thanks again everyone! Considering a lot of people were interested in the event, it might return next year. Until then, keep skonging and skilking and who knows, maybe this year we'll finally get to play Silksong.

I also wanted to give a special thanks to our nominating committee and to everyone who helped with the event! This wouldn't be possible without you.

<3