It would seem the EU rating system is going to replace the UK’s BBFC system.
The Government is turning its head to helping out British Publishers and Developers as part of its new initiative to push the UK into a new Digital Age.
With the old system as long as a game had a BBFC rating it could be released, but with the new system every game has to be reviewed under the PEGI system and it is going to be enforced by law. An advantage of this is that even though it is an EU system it only effects the UK so if a game is banned or rated higher in the UK it will not effect the rest of Europe or vice versa.
Quoted from Gamespot. PEGI has a history of rating games more conservatively than the BBFC. According to the VSC, since 2003, approximately 50 percent of PEGI 18+ games have received more lenient ratings from the BBFC. As of the end of last year, according to a PEGI statement at the time, 24 of 50 titles rated 18+ by PEGI had had their ratings reduced by the BBFC. Two of these–Mass Effect and PSP game SWAT – Target Liberty–were released in the UK with 12 ratings from the BBFC, but with a PEGI 18+ in the rest of Europe. The other 22 received 15 ratings in the UK–among them, big games, such as Resident Evil, Silent Hill 3, and the original God of War.
This still has to go through the government and be passed by law. But if it does, it could mean an end to certain people blaming the games industry for violent games that under 18’s are playing when it is clearly marked at a 18 rated game and should be played only by over 18’s.
Time will tell if this new system will benefit the selling of games or not is another story.
