A few days before Christmas and while parents are wondering about the right video game to offer their children, the SELL - Syndicate of Leisure Software Publishers - unveils a new documentary on the PEGI system. A video that explains with pedagogy the classification process of video games, the meaning of the pictograms and the best practices to adopt for parents. Today there are video games for all audiences, which means that some games are not suitable for younger people.
PEGI's goal: to enable everyone to make informed decisions
PEGI is the European reference system for the classification of video games. It allows everyone to understand the content of a game at first glance and know the recommended age to play it. Approved in France by the Ministry of the Interior since 2015, the PEGI classification is mandatory for any game distributed in France. This documentary details the video game rating process and how the content of each game is taken into account when assigning an age category. Attentive to changes in the video game market, PEGI evolves with new practices and technological developments. This is evidenced by the introduction in August 2018 of a new content descriptor on “in-app purchases” to inform parents of the possibility of purchasing virtual goods with real money in certain games.
Meeting with the actors of classification
SELL offers a behind-the-scenes look at the VSC (Video Standards Council Rating Board), one of the two organizations that assesses and ranks video games. Jennifer Wacrenier, PEGI SA project manager, and Emmanuel Martin, general delegate of SELL and PEGI administrator in France, also come back to PEGI's information mission. To go further, Olivier Gérard, head of the PédaGoJeux collective and member of the PEGI Complaints Council, details the best practices to adopt to support the youngest in their video game experience and recalls the importance of parental control tools.
Raise awareness and inform parents about good practices:
- 35% parents declare to be attentive to PEGI *.
- An offer suitable for everyone: 73% of games published in 2018 ** are PEGI 3, 7 or 12
- Share moments with family and supervise the practice so that the game remains a pleasure.
- Each game console hastools parental control allowing parents to supervise and manage their child's practice.
* SELL / Médiamétrie study “The French and the video game”, carried out on the Internet from September 6 to October 1, 2018, with a sample of 2 Internet users aged 856 and over
** PEGI data - December 2018.