PEGI Plans to Add In-Game Purchase Warning to Boxed Games

The Pan European Game Information group that rates video games ahead of their release announced that it'll soon add a warning to boxed games that alerts buyers of in-game purchase.

PEGI, the European equivalent of North America's ESRB, said on Thursday that it plans to add the content warning to physical copies of games. This type of notification already appears in digital storefronts to make consumers aware of in-game purchase options, but the content descriptor will soon be seen on the physical versions as well. Text that details the purchases will be printed on the game boxes along with an icon that shows a hand holding a credit card.

Citing a consumer survey, the PEGI announcement said that two out of five parents of children who play games indicated that their kids make additional purchases within their games. While there are already various ways for parents and others to control and limit the spending, the new content indicator will warn parents ahead of time about the in-game purchases, PEGI said.

"Making parents aware of the existence of optional in-game purchases upfront is an important first step," says Simon Little, Managing Director of PEGI S.A. "PEGI will now make this information available at the point of purchase, so that a parent can decide whether and how they want to monitor and/or limit a child's spending."

The in-game purchases warning will be added to any game that fits those parameters. PEGI said that the plan is to have the icon added to physical games "towards the end of the year"

"Purchase offers within games has become a broad phenomenon, and it is necessary to provide the same level of consumer information on both physical and digital releases", says Simon Little. "Considering that physical releases are an important part of the market, this was an important gap to fill. For a parent who may not be fully familiar with the video games landscape, seeing this simple descriptor on the packaging of a game they consider buying should trigger the reflex of keeping an eye on the gameplay, once the game has been purchased and given to the child. It's basic information, but that's what parents sometimes feel they are lacking."

The announcement of PEGI's new content label follows a similar decision made by the ESRB earlier in the year. Following controversy about these purchases spurred on by Star Wars Battlefront II and a growing dissatisfaction with loot boxes, the ESRB said that it would add a warning of in-game purchases to both physical and digital games.

An update on in-game purchases from your friends at ESRB: pic.twitter.com/pqmfJe0Ywz

— ESRB (@ESRBRatings) February 27, 2018