New UK age ratings legal by October

ELSPA is hopeful that the PEGI system of age ratings for video games will be ratified in law this October – just in time for complete clarity through the busiest selling season.

It will be the final stage in ousting the BBFC as the body responsible for classifying games.

The Video Standards Council will judge the suitability of content in regard to age, with the PEGI system used to communicate the ratings.

From here, the VSC needs to be designated as the body responsible for the classification and get approval for the PEGI logos and descriptors to be used under the packaging regulations. These details need to be accepted by parliament and the new regime will then be 100 per cent official as law.

ELSPA’s director general Michael Rawlinson told MCV: It’s the end of a long journey, but we’ve ended up with the right solution for the industry and consumers. The sooner the final statutory instruments are passed and the new system becomes official, the better for gamers and games buyers.

The fact that we hope it to be done in October, just ahead of the Christmas sales period, is particularly pleasing.”