FC 27 Now Rated for Players Aged 16 and Up by PEGI

The Pan-European Game Information (PEGI) organization has traditionally assigned age ratings based on factors like sex, drugs, violence, profanity, and fear. Now, it’s introducing four new categories that link age appropriateness to interactive features, such as designating games with loot boxes as unsuitable for players under 16.

Titles like the FC series, which usually hold a PEGI 3 rating, will feel the impact most significantly. The inclusion of virtual card packs in the Ultimate Team mode is likely to elevate future FC releases to a PEGI 16 rating.

These changes will only affect new games submitted for classification starting in June, or when existing games introduce new features related to these classifications. The new age rating categories are as follows:

* Games featuring “paid random items” like loot boxes and gacha systems will receive a default PEGI 16 rating, or PEGI 18 in certain cases, such as with social casino games.
* Titles that allow players to buy in-game content, including limited-time or quantity-limited offers, will be rated PEGI 12. If a game incorporates NFTs or blockchain elements, it will be rated PEGI 18. According to PEGI director general Dirk Bosmans, games that let users disable in-game purchases by default can lower their rating to PEGI 7.
* Games designed to encourage frequent play through rewards (like daily quests, battle passes, and login streaks) will be rated PEGI 7. This rating increases to PEGI 12 for games that penalize players for not returning, such as by losing content or progress.
* Games with “entirely unrestricted communication features” — where players cannot block, report, or limit text, voice, or video chats — will be rated PEGI 18.

These PEGI updates come as lawmakers worldwide seek to address potentially addictive gaming practices, highlighted by a recent lawsuit against a gaming corporation for allegedly using loot boxes to facilitate “illegal gambling.” The introduction of new categories may also help PEGI avoid misclassifying games, as seen when it initially assigned an 18 rating to Balatro for “prominent gambling imagery,” despite the absence of actual gambling features.

“PEGI has established a strong foundation to continue educating parents for many more years, as they will need reliable information in a constantly evolving gaming landscape,” stated Jeroen Jansz, chair of the PEGI experts group. “PEGI will keep monitoring relevant developments and will assess the implementation of these criteria over the next year, just as we continuously review content classification categories.”