PEGI hopes to avoid new games ratings flux

PEGI's ratings systems
PEGI's ratings systems

PEGI's communications manager Dirk Bosmans has told TechRadar that he is hoping a change of government will not once again throw video game ratings into a state of flux.

With the Queen's speech set to ratify the Digital Britain report, including the recommendation that PEGI be the central body for all game ratings, the spectre of Labour being replaced by David Cameron's Conservatives is hanging over any major changes.

However, Bosmans is hopeful that there will be no challenge to the changes – and that there will be no repeat of the arguments with the BBFC over who should be in charge of rating video games.

Running the risk

"It's hard to know if there's a real risk of a change back," Bosmans told TechRadar.

"There is broad support across all the parties for PEGI to be the games ratings body, so there's no reason to turn back the clock.

"Even if the choice is to do that with other parts of Digital Britain, I don't see a reason why the PEGI system should be a part of that."

Best options

PEGI was picked as the best option for video games ratings, much to the annoyance of films ratings body the BBFC.

It said at the time that it "continues to believe that it satisfies these requirements better than PEGI".

However, the news proved popular with the likes of ELSPA and the International Software Federation of Europe – as well as major games companies like Nintendo and EA.

Patrick Goss

Patrick Goss is the ex-Editor in Chief of TechRadar. Patrick was a passionate and experienced journalist, and he has been lucky enough to work on some of the finest online properties on the planet, building audiences everywhere and establishing himself at the forefront of digital content.  After a long stint as the boss at TechRadar, Patrick has now moved on to a role with Apple, where he is the Managing Editor for the App Store in the UK.