Games industry calls for single rating system

Life

The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) has called on Europe to adopt a single rating system for video games.

Paul Jackson, director of ELSPA, told the Westminster Media Forum that the government must recognise the decisions made in the Byron Review of computer and video games.

Jackson is pushing for adoption of the Pan European Games Ratings Information (PEGI) as the de facto standard rating system across Europe.

“For the games industry, when we talk about child protection, we talk about PEGI. PEGI is the solution for today, and the solution for tomorrow,” he said.

“Only PEGI fully assesses all games content. It is designed specifically for interactive software. It understands games and their potential for infinite variations. That’s why it is backed by the vast majority of the computer games industry.”

At present video games come under the remit of the Irish Film Censors Office (IFCO), which hit the headlines this year with the controversy over the Manhunt 2 game.

ELSPA’s call for the adoption of a single rating system was backed by a variety of major video game developers, including Nintendo, Electronic Arts, Sega and Ubisoft.

“If you look at the PEGI system against the film ratings board in the UK, you will see that PEGI is the only system that has the power to prevent games publishers distributing unsuitable content to children,” said Mike Hayes, president and chief executive at Sega Europe.

“It can ban a publisher’s entire output, rather than just a single title. This power is backed by the entire industry.”

Read More: Gamer