European rating board PEGI will now rate any game that includes elements teaching players how to gamble 18+.
Gambling in games is nothing new but has been a huge talking point in recent years. Largely due to the popularization and increased availability of loot boxes in all their forms. Some countries have already declared the mechanic to be gambling and even banned them. Other countries, including the UK, continue to debate whether they should fall under gambling laws or not.
As for PEGI, the ratings board responsible for rating games in Europe, it will now rate any game that teaches gambling to its players as 18+, reports AskAboutGames. Apparently, PEGI has been rating games using this new criterion since 2020. There are a lot of caveats, and since loot boxes still aren't classed as gambling by PEGI, it doesn't mean games like FIFA will start getting an 18+ rating all of a sudden.
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In fact, even if loot boxes are suddenly confirmed to be a form of gambling, FIFA and other games that use them might still fly under PEGI's radar. There's something of a grey area when it comes to pre-existing games, even if they are remastered with the same mechanics in place in the future. Take Pokemon, for example. If the original games were to be re-released, they would hold onto their original ratings despite players having to gamble in Celadon City.
“Older games with simulated gambling elements will retain their age rating if re-released ,” PEGI clarified to AskAboutGames. That's providing the game hasn't been changed so much that it is effectively an all-new title. Again, some grey area for games that might be looking to avoid getting slapped with an 18+ rating.
As for the kinds of things that will land games with a PEGI 18+ rating from now on, anything that requires players to play cards or teaches them how to gamble qualifies. It may well result in a game with a 12 rating that is otherwise harmless being bumped up to 18 simply because a small part of it requires you to play a game of Blackjack, or use a slot machine.
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