The European rating organization PEGI has announced that starting in June 2026, new minimum age ratings will be introduced for games containing certain “interactive risk” features.
Games that include paid random items, commonly known as loot boxes, will automatically receive a PEGI 16 rating. This means such titles cannot be legally sold to players under 16 in the United Kingdom and other European countries where PEGI ratings are embedded in law.
In some cases, these games may even receive a PEGI 18 rating, although the exact criteria for this higher classification have not yet been disclosed.
If a game contains battle passes or other time-limited paid offers, it will receive a PEGI 12 rating.
Games that include daily login rewards or similar bonus systems will be assigned PEGI 7.
The new rules will apply only to games submitted for classification after June 2026, but the changes are expected to affect major franchises. For example, the football simulator EA Sports FC currently has a PEGI 3 rating. To keep that rating in future releases, the publisher would need to remove loot boxes from the Ultimate Team mode in a future title such as EA Sports FC 27.
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