PEGI Ratings System Delayed

The PEGI rating system, which would make videogame ratings legally enforceable, will be delayed until 2011. The Video Standards Council has said the ratings system, which would replace the BBFC’s “18” and “15” ratings, has to be delayed because the Digital Economy Act, which enables the system, has not yet been properly enacted.

The system, which will use colourful logos (pictured), will replace the current system which combines the current black and white PEGI logos and, for more adults titles, the “18″ and “15″ logos used on films. It is hoped that a unified system, designed specifically for rating videogames, will help parents decide what is appropriate for their children.

It was thought the system would be enabled in October, but the VSC now says it will likely “be implemented on April 1st 2011,” giving time to promote the new system. The VSC notes that any titles that “contain any extraneous video which is not part of the game, [including] trailers” must also be submitted to the BBFC and that “it is important to stress that no games must appear for sale in UK shops with a PEGI 18 logo prior to April 1st 2011.”