Games with loot boxes get 16-plus age rating in Europe under PEGI overhaul

The Pan-European Games Information (PEGI) age-rating system, which is compulsory and legally enforced in the UK and much of the EU, will apply new classifications from June to a range of video gaming mechanics, including loot boxes, time-limited offers and daily rewards.

While some of these features are already subject to PEGI disclosure requirements, they have not previously been attached to specific age ratings. Publishers will be looking to ensure they are ready for the updates that come into effect next month amid increasing regulatory scrutiny of children's digital safety. 

Loot boxes and other in-game purchases

All games containing paid random items will be rated PEGI 16 by default; these include loot boxes, virtual card packs, character-summoning or "gacha" systems, and similar mechanics. Although disclosure of in-game purchases via PEGI has been compulsory since 2018 and of "paid random items", in particular, since 2020, the application of a default age rating is a significant step.

The move is not entirely unexpected, given the increasing regulatory scrutiny of these mechanics and similar moves in other jurisdictions: in Australia, for example, games with paid loot boxes are rated "Mature", meaning they are not recommended for children under 15.

Social casino games will be rated PEGI 18. This is also unsurprising, as PEGI 18 has been applied since 2020 to games with simulated gambling – those which simulate traditional casino games or betting but do not use real money. Social casino games cost real money to play, but players cannot withdraw real money from the game.

Certain non-randomised in-game purchases will also receive a PEGI 12 age rating, such as games with time-limited or quantity-limited offers. This would capture battle passes as well as temporary special offers on in-game items. Games with these purchases can reduce their rating to PEGI 7 if spending is disabled until activated by a parent.

Games involving the trading of non-fungible tokens or blockchain-related mechanisms will be rated PEGI 18.

Play-by-appointment

Games with mechanics that reward players for returning to play will be classified as at least PEGI 7, capturing all games with daily or weekly quests, daily log-in rewards, and log-in streaks. When these mechanics "punish" players for not returning to the game, the rating will increase to PEGI 12. These "punishments" include losing out on content or reducing the player's progress.

Exactly where the line will be drawn when assessing whether a play-by-appointment mechanic penalises players and incurs a PEGI 12 rating is not yet clear. Conceptually, this could include games where players are ranked against each other and need to play regularly to maintain their ranking. It could extend to games with mechanics in which resources accumulate over time but are capped at a certain amount until collected by the player. It would certainly include paid battle passes in which players cannot win all of the rewards without regular gameplay, although these passes would in any case attract a rating of PEGI 12 as time-limited offers.

The criteria are being introduced ahead of the EU's Digital Fairness Act, which is making its way through the legislative process and is expected to address dark patterns, including countdown timers, claims of scarcity, and other ways of placing pressure on consumers.

Communication features

Games with entirely unrestricted communication features will be rated PEGI 18. In order to avoid a PEGI 18 rating, games need to implement safeguarding measures such as the ability to report and block other players.

Osborne Clarke comment

Much of the focus around this new update will be on loot boxes. Regulatory scrutiny of loot boxes has grown steadily around the world for some time and is only increasing. Some action has already been taken in the UK, including rulings by the Advertising Standards Authority confirming that the presence of loot boxes must be disclosed on app store listings. PEGI's approach may help to address the concerns of policymakers looking to regulate loot boxes in the UK and EU, where much of the discussion has centred around children.

Regulators' initial approaches to regulating loot boxes focused on gambling law, as in Belgium and the more recent lawsuits against Valve in New York and Washington. However, European regulators are now considering the issue from a consumer protection and digital regulation perspective, alongside broader examinations of potentially harmful practices under the Digital Markets Act and upcoming Digital Fairness Act. Germany's age-rating organisation, the USK, which collaborated with PEGI on this update, added similar classification criteria such as "pressure to act" and "pressure to play excessively" alongside paid random items in 2023 following national legislation.

In light of this new angle, the other new PEGI criteria are timely measures that may go some way to assuaging regulators' concerns about children's exposure to dark patterns through video games, both in terms of pressure to make purchases and measures to encourage repeated engagement.

The new criteria will apply only to games newly submitted from June. They will not apply retrospectively to games submitted to PEGI for classification before that date. There is no obligation for games to be submitted for reclassification, even if they are implementing substantial updates thereafter. This means that unless anything changes, today's popular games implementing loot boxes, in-game purchases and play-by-appointment mechanics will not be captured by the new criteria. This is especially relevant as most of these mechanics are found in live service games, which remain popular for years after their initial release due to regular updates to their content.

Laura Henderson, a trainee solicitor with Osborne Clarke, contributed to this Insight.