At a time when games were starting to create controversies (Barbarian, Wolfenstein 3D, Mortal Kombat, etc.) and attract the attention of parents and associations, studios found a way to create violent games with unrealistic settings that would then be less linked with real world violence. Of course, at the time there were no age ratings on the games and most games in this article were released before the creation of the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board)... The fantasy / medieval settings were a perfect fit for such games and thus were also used for brutal and deadly sports games.