PEGI starts moving existing digital games with loot boxes up to a 16 rating

Digital-only games rated PEGI 3, 7 or 12 that sell paid random items are being re-rated PEGI 16 through October. Marvel Rivals, Fire Emblem Heroes and Pokémon TCG Pocket have already moved.

AI-drafted from 4 sources. This story was written with AI from the outside reporting listed under Sources, and checked by automated tools before it went up. The originals have the full detail.

PEGI has started raising the age rating of games that are already on sale if they include paid random items such as loot boxes. Digital-only games that currently carry a PEGI 3, 7 or 12 rating and sell paid random items are being moved to PEGI 16 and labelled "Paid random items", GamesIndustry.biz reported on 19 October.

The news came from Connor Hinde, policy manager at the Games Rating Authority, which runs PEGI in the UK. In a LinkedIn post he said the GRA began applying the updated criteria to a selection of existing digital games the week before, and that the changes will roll out progressively through the rest of October. The re-rating applies whether a game got its rating through PEGI's Classic procedure or through the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) system. Hinde acknowledged that "a significant volume of rating changes will occur within a relatively short timeframe" and pointed publishers and developers with questions to the PEGI Helpdesk.

Which games have moved so far

Inven Global reports that Marvel Rivals, previously PEGI 12, went to PEGI 16 on European storefronts on 17 October. PocketGamer.biz found Pokémon TCG Pocket and Pokémon Masters EX showing PEGI 16 on the UK Play Store, and Fire Emblem Heroes moving up from PEGI 12. The last two do not sell item loot boxes at all. They sell characters through a gacha, which shows that the rule reaches character banners as well as crates and card packs.

PEGI director general Dirk Bosmans told Inven Global that live games can be updated over a very long period, and the board wanted older games that are still popular to reflect its current criteria. Inven also notes that affected publishers will have to update their product details on each storefront and use the new rating in future marketing.

The June rules, now applied backwards

PEGI announced its new criteria in March, and they have applied to newly submitted games since June. Paid random items, including card packs, gacha systems and paid keys that unlock random items, mean PEGI 16, and social casino games get PEGI 18. Time-limited or quantity-limited offers such as paid battle passes and countdown timers mean PEGI 12, which drops to PEGI 7 if spending is switched off by default. Daily quests and login streaks mean PEGI 7. At the time PEGI said the rules would only cover new submissions, though Bosmans said it would look at older games.

This wave covers paid random items only. According to Inven, older games with NFT purchases or time-limited offers are not yet being re-rated. The ESRB, which rates games in North America, said in March that it would not adopt the change because folding non-content features into an age rating "could be confusing" for parents, so the same game can now carry very different ratings either side of the Atlantic.

For small studios selling on mobile or console stores in Europe, the practical point is simple: a game with any paid random reward that was rated 3, 7 or 12 through IARC should expect its rating to change before the end of October.

Sources

• PEGI begins moving existing digital-only games with loot boxes up to a 16 rating (GamesIndustry.biz)
• Games with loot boxes receive updated PEGI 16 rating for paid random items (PocketGamer.biz)
• PEGI Raises Age Rating to 16 for Games Containing Paid Loot Boxes (Inven Global)
• Games with loot boxes will be rated PEGI 16 from June, as part of sweeping changes to the age-rating system (GamesIndustry.biz)

Image: Image: PEGI, via GamesIndustry.biz