Som det blev annonceret sidste måned vil PEGI fra juni måned ikke længere kun se på, hvad et spil viser, men også på, hvordan det beder spillerne om at bruge, returnere, kommunikere og interagere. Indførelsen af de nye kriterier i den nuværende kontekst, hvor live service-spil optager det meste af børns spilletid, har været efterspurgt længe.
Gamereactor havde på MAD Games Show i Madrid en god snak med PEGI's head of operations, Jennifer Wacrenier, omkring de nye opdateringer.
"This is the biggest update PEGI has ever done", forklarer Wacrenier i videointerviewet "because we are extending the scope, not only to the content of the game. That was really the focus at the start: violence, bad language, drugs, sex, and all that. Now it's really extending to elements that are more like features, mechanisms in the game, such as in-game purchases and paid random items, pressure to play, to come back to the game at certain specific times, and also the online interactions in the chats and so on."
For at illustrere, hvordan de såkaldte "interaktionsrisici" nu vil udløse forskellige aldersvurderinger, giver Wacrenier os flere eksempler.
"Certain types of in-game purchase, like, for example, when there are time-limited quantity offers, such as battle passes and so on, that's going to trigger a [PEGI] 12," forudser hun. "Paid random items are going to trigger a [PEGI] 16: loot box, gacha system, all that."
Hvad angår pres for at spille, tilføjer hun, at incitamenter "to come back on a daily quest" eller "at seasonal moments" vil udløse en PEGI 7 mens "if the user would lose content because they don't come back to the game, that would be a PEGI 12." Endelig når det kommer til kommunikation online, siger Wacrenier, at hvis et spil ikke har moderation eller værktøjer der kan "block or mute another player" vil få en PEGI 18 rating.
Wacrenier fortæller derefter om den 18 måneder lange proces, der tog PEGI "to develop those new criteria and to have a consensus and an agreement for everyone within those committees, but also to develop really objective criteria to determine which one would get which rating" mens hun beskriver profilerne bag det hele, herunder europæiske eksperter, akademikere, specialister i mindreårigsbeskyttelse, PEGI-rådet, ministerier og mediemyndigheder.
Men hvordan reagerer spiludgivere på de nye regler, når nogle af deres udgivelser nu kan grow several years older i PEGI, hvilket potentielt påvirker salget?
"I think that the news was very well received, quite positively" siger Wacrenier. "Obviously, not all publishers and companies are happy with it. But I think it was needed. It was expected. And, you know, it was a very, very big request coming from parents, consumers, governments and everyone."
I den forbindelse bemærkede hun også, at "everybody will have to adapt and adjust and either take the rating or take some incentive or initiatives to change maybe the design. If they don't want that rating, that's up to them as well."
Andre steder i interviewet diskuterer vi, hvad der er nødvendigt for, at forældre bliver mere opmærksomme på PEGI, og hvordan det hjælper dem med at kontrollere, hvad deres børn har adgang til eller bruger penge på. Desuden understreger Wacrenier, at PEGI ikke forbyder eller censurerer, og hvordan de arbejder med sanktioner, bøder, en adfærdskodeks og klager efter udgivelse, når en tilknyttet partner ikke overholder reglerne.
Men PEGI findes ikke overalt, og hun forklarede også forskellene mellem PEGI-landene eller endda sammenligninger med (og inspiration fra) systemer som Tysklands USK, eller hvordan PEGI i Storbritannien håndhæves i detailhandlen.
Hvorfor findes PEGI stadig på Steam eller Apple?
Da vi kom til snakken om tilstedeværelse og faktum er, at digitalt spilsalg for længst har overhalet fysisk salg, ønskede vi også at lære mere om de digitale platforme. PEGI er fremtrædende på Nintendos eShop og på Epic Games Store, så forbliver Steam og Apple (MacOS og iOS) de to største huller i PEGIs digitale rækkevidde.
"Those are the two platforms where we are not present," indrømmer Wacrenier. "Apple has its own rating system in-house since the beginning. So we try to discuss with them, but so far, they are keeping their own system. And then Steam doesn't have any system or mandatory system in place. They do allow publishers to display the PEGI rating if they have one, but that's it. And many don't."
Med henvisning til Steam i særdeleshed tilføjede hun: "That's a bit unfortunate because they are a big player in the industry. So we would be very happy to discuss with them and see how we could integrate PEGI more."
Du kan se hele interviewet, undertekstet på dit lokale sprog, for meget mere om PEGI.
