PEGI will become law at the month’s end

The current European system of rating games, the Pan European Game Information or PEGI as it is known will take over the sole responsibility of age rating video games in the United Kingdom. Currently the job is shared with the BBFC. What this means is that from 30th July we will only see PEGI ratings instead of the occasional movie rating.

This will simplify the system as there will be 3, 7, 12, 16 and 18 age ratings instead of the occasional 15 and 18 movie rating which is enforceable by law. PEGI is currently only a guideline but from the end of the month will be enforced by law and anyone caught selling games to children under the age rating could face fines or even jail time.

This move has been a long time coming and brings the game industry in line with the movie world where age ratings have been in place for a substantially long time.