PEGI-Age Ratings

PEGI, Pan European game information, is a European game content rating system. It was produced to give European video game consumers information about whether the game is suitable for the age of the user, they do this by putting different age logos on different boxes. It was developed by the Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE) and came into use in April 2003. the PEGI system is now used in more then thirty countries and is based on a code of conduct. The PEGI system has 5 seperate age categories and 8 content discriptors that show if the game is suitable for a certain age, this is affevted by the in game content. these identify the age that the game is aimed at, they have been colour coded so they are easier to see and understand, this was introduced after 2009. the colours may represent green from friendly, orange representing getting more violent and red representing danger and theres alot of violence. As of December 2011, PEGI has rated more than 18,000 games, 50% of the games were rated 3, 10% were rated 7, 24% were rated 12, 12% were rated 16 and only 4% were 18.



Prior to pegi the majority of game ratings were made by the BBFC the british board of film classification. buit due to pegi now becoming legally enforced they do not have much influence over the age ratings for games in the present day.

For the developers of todays games this has had some negative impacts, for instrance it has resulted in the game developer not being allowed to put as much of something in to a agme that they wish such as violence being toned down. this is due to the game having to be able to fit into a certain category so it can fit clearly into a rating category. this may also have effects on their profit as it may cause peoploe to put off buying the game as it may not feel the same, such as if it was part of a series such as GTA. the publishers will also face problems such as because the game is now only permitable to a certain age group it means that the consumer cannot go and buy a game if they are to young, which may result in them not buying the game, also because people who are aged around 12/13 do not have a presentable form of identification they will be sold the game from what the person at5 the checkout thinks they look like and this may prevent the right aged person from buying a a game which can have a fine of £5,000, this sort of fine will put the retailer under alot of prerssure and may result in many consumers being refused when buying a game.

The PEGI system does have some problems for instanse there is nothing stopping the parent of the child from purchasing the game for them, this therefore meaning that the system is easily avoidable by the consumer. also with the introduction of digital download there is nothing stopping them from purchasing the game online which requires no form of ID. these are the problems that PEGI have to overcome.