PEGI announce plans to slap higher age ratings on games with loot boxes, daily quests, and paid battle passes soon

Tweaks aim to "bolster online safety and meet the concerns and questions of today’s parents"

The folks behind PEGI - the age rating system used for games in Europe outside of Germany - have announced plans to update their criteria so that games which feature likes of loot boxes, harbour NFTs or blockchain-related bollocks, or pressurise players into returning via daily quests will automatically be given specific age reccomendations to match.

The goal of these changes from the Pan European Game Information ratings board and director Dirk Bosmans is to offer would-be players or game purchasers "more useful and transparent advice" that provides a better picture of what they're in for when they fire up certain games. Nothing's changing about the age ratings themselves, which still range from the fine-for-everyone 3 to the 18 that stands in the way of your dad buying you GTA. Instead, the presence of certain features beyond the usual rating influences like violence or bad language will influence what rating a game gets once the changes kick in this June.

PEGI have grouped these new criteria they're taking into account when deciding ratings into four categories. First, games which offer the chance to buy items in "time-limited or quantity-limited" fashion will automatically earn a 12 rating, while any containing the dreaded NFTs or "blockchain-related mechanisms" will automatically be slapped with an 18 rating.

The second category covers games which offer "paid random items" - loot boxes to you and me. By default, these'll now get a 16 rating, which PEGI say could rise to an 18 in certain cases. Category number three covers "play-by-appointment", a phrase the ratings folks use to cover games which push players to return on a regular basis by offering the likes of daily quests. Those with daily grinding that doesn't come with the FOMO-based threat of losing out on items or having your progress hampered will get a 7 rating, while those that do will be pushed into the 12 bin.

Finally, category four is aimed at games without protections on online chatter, decreeing that they'll automatically be lobbed into the cellar full of 18-rated games if they don't provide players the means to block or report messages or other communication said players feel crosses a line.

"This is going to come into effect in June of this year," PEGI director Bosmans told Europeanvideogamer, "We do expect that at that point, games will be submitted to us under this new regime, you could say, and then we're going to have to remain confidential for a while because we can't disclose the ratings until a game is ready for release or announcement. We do expect that somewhere later in summer, we will see the first games under these new criteria appear on the market - Gamescom time, around that."

While all of the practices covered by the new criteria are things publishers have faced criticism and action from the likes of trade bodies or politicians on before, it'll be intriguing to see whether PEGI hitting them right in the rating will trigger any big shift in what games look like. Will EA Sports FC, for example, retain its 3 rating? The answer isn't 100% clear for now, although having had a quick look through the legal disclaimers of this year's version, EA do note that "you may need to be 16+ (13+ in the UK) for online features" - that being where the Ultimate Team mode with its card packs and daily grinding lurks.