The Pan-European Game Information (PEGI) body previously assigned its age ratings based on the presence of sex, drugs, violence, bad language, and fear. Now it’s adding four new options that tie age suitability to interactive features, like rating games that contain loot boxes as unsuitable for children under 16.
Games like EA’s FC series — which typically carry a PEGI 3 age rating — will be among the most impacted, with the virtual card packs included in the franchise’s Ultimate Team mode expected to bump future FC releases to a PEGI 16.
The changes will only apply to new games that are submitted for classification from June, or when new features tied to these classifications are introduced by existing games. The new age rating categories include:
The PEGI changes come as global lawmakers attempt to crack down on allegedly addictive gaming mechanisms, with a recent lawsuit accusing gaming corporation Valve of using loot boxes to promote “illegal gambling.” Adding new categories could also help PEGI to avoid miscategorizing games, however, such as when it assigned (and then rescinded) an 18 age rating to Balatro for “prominent gambling imagery,” despite there being no actual gambling features within the game.
“PEGI has laid a solid foundation to continue educating parents for many more years, since parents will need a stable source of information about a constantly changing environment like the video games market,” PEGI experts group chair Jeroen Jansz said in a statement. “PEGI will continue to monitor relevant developments, and we will keep assessing the implementation of these criteria in the course of the next year, in the same way that we maintain a continuous review of the content classification categories.”
