Immediately after its publication last Thursday, the games industry seemed to whole-heartedly support the findings of the Byron Review. But very quickly the cracks began to show in relation to one specific element: game certification. ELSPA questioned the BBFC's ability to meet the increased workload of assessing all games rated at 12 or over; TIGA asked whether the games industry would be expected to fit the bill for educating parents about future changes.
Now, Gamesblog has spoken to Keith Ramsdale VP and General Manager of Electronic Arts UK who reiterates comments he made before the review was unveiled, that the Europe-wide ratings system, PEGI, should be the single classification system.
Here's our interview with the EA exec...
What's your overall reaction to the report? Do you think it's a far assessment of what needs to be done to protect children? We welcome Dr Byron's Review - it should help start discussions with Government that will determine the measures and safeguards that will be in the best interest of UK consumers. We worked with Dr Byron during her review process and I appreciate her open approach to this.
Our main disagreement with the findings is with the age rating system suggested for games. As an Industry we have been unanimously clear that there should be a single system and that system should be PEGI. PEGI is an efficient system to help people make appropriate content choices for players of all ages. A Nielsen study showed PEGI has 94% awareness with the UK game-playing public and it follows a tougher regime than the BBFC. In 2007 PEGI gave 47 titles an 18 rating but BBFC downgraded 21 of those to 15 or less. We believe that UK consumers will be far better served with this system and this route would offer the most practical, efficient and compliant system.
You mentioned that the Nielsen study suggests a strong understanding of the PEGI system among consumers, but the Byron Review has spoken to parents who don't seem aware of how it works... There is further education to be done, to really ensure parents understand that the ratings refer to content, not skill level. The current system is a dual system hence why we are certain a single PEGI system will only make things clearer.
There have been suggestions that the report concentrates heavily on videogame classification due to an underlying realisation that the internet cannot be so easily 'policed'. Do you feel that, in some ways, the videogame industry is bearing the brunt of parental and governmental concerns about technology, simply because it's an 'easier target'? Parents, industry and government all have a role to play in ensuring that only age-appropriate content makes it to intended audiences. We've long maintained that it is extremely important to safeguard children from any content that's unsuitable for them.
What will be the ramifications for development if the UK adopts its own ratings system, beyond the Europe-wide PEGI initiative? Compliance with a single-nation system for the UK will definitely bring added complexity for developers, publishers and crucially retailers, all of whom operate in a multi-national marketplace. Publishers and developers will still have to operate under PEGI for the rest of Europe so there's added complexity. Furthermore, one European system brings advantage in terms of investment in education programs for parents and retailers. So, the advantages of an existing pan-Europe single rating system are pretty clear - but we do need to invest in pan-Europe education which the Industry is committed to doing.
Do you feel it's in any way appropriate for games to share the same classification system as movies? And what do you think about the increased workload the extension of classification will have on the BBFC? The BBFC has real expertise in the classifying linear entertainment like film, but there's no evidence to suggest a smooth transfer of BBFC historic practices to an increasingly complex interactive and online world. PEGI is a unique rating system which was developed specifically for interactive entertainment and led by people who really understand its evolution and its consumers.
In addition, PEGI is scaleable and future proof and with the support of the European Commission it already launched PEGI Online in recognition of the growing trends toward online interactive entertainment.
Going forward, will EA and other publishers be involved in the process of coming up with a new way of classifying games? Yes. EA believes PEGI is the most suitable system for rating video games. EA and the wider Industry have and will engage with the appropriate Government departments to ensure the right decisions are made in the best interest of the British public.
