Home Gaming The back of the box of games sold in Europe (and South Africa) will soon show if there are in-game purchases

The back of the box of games sold in Europe (and South Africa) will soon show if there are in-game purchases

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PEGI, the Pan European Game Information labelling system is the European counterpart to the US’s ESRB. It lists the age restriction and content descriptors for games that might cause offence – including things like drug use, violence, swearing, gambling and sex. Though entirely voluntary and also self-regulated, it’s become the standard for classifying games across Europe.

Today, it’s announced another offensive descriptor: In-game purchases. While the term had already appeared on digital games, physical games sold within Europe will now brandish this particular scarlet letter.

IGP

“Making parents aware of the existence of optional in-game purchases upfront is an important first step. PEGI will now make this information available at the point of purchase, so that a parent can decide whether and how they want to monitor and/or limit a child’s spending”, says Simon Little, Managing Director of PEGI S.A. “While we know that parents use different methods to control spending, parental control tools are a very helpful next step in making sure that the overall online experience of the child is safe, including the possibility to control spending. Entering into a dialogue with the child about the games they enjoy is certainly a must for all parents. It will provide them with the necessary context to create a gaming environment both the children and the parents are comfortable with.”

The new labelling – which will affect games sold in South Africa as ours come from Europe – will be in effect by the end of the year.

“Purchase offers within games has become a broad phenomenon, and it is necessary to provide the same level of consumer information on both physical and digital releases”, says Simon Little. “Considering that physical releases are an important part of the market, this was an important gap to fill. For a parent who may not be fully familiar with the video games landscape, seeing this simple descriptor on the packaging of a game they consider buying should trigger the reflex of keeping an eye on the gameplay, once the game has been purchased and given to the child. It’s basic information, but that’s what parents sometimes feel they are lacking.”

While the idea behind this is noble, it all seems pointless – because nobody really looks at those descriptors on the back of the box anyway. It’s doubly pointless in that modern games almost always have some sort of in-game purchases.

 

Last Updated: August 30, 2018

19 Comments

  1. G8crasha

    August 30, 2018 at 12:16

    Do people still buy physical games in boxes!

    Reply

  2. Admiral Chief

    August 30, 2018 at 12:11

    Like with MOST things in life, people won’t read it, and complain about it.

    Reply

  3. G8crasha

    August 30, 2018 at 12:16

    Do people still buy physical games in boxes!

    Reply

  4. Ghost In The Rift

    August 30, 2018 at 12:56

    Due to “Cap limits” still in 2018 i relay on physical copies for the bulk of the data, thats if im lucky and not just received a steam code and still have to download the whole game like i had to with Doom, took me about 6 month to split up my data and download about 10GB a month, true story

    Reply

    • Guz

      August 30, 2018 at 13:26

      Shame man tough break. Just for curiosity’s sake how much data do you get/use a month.

      We should do a poll about that

      Reply

      • Ghost In The Rift

        August 30, 2018 at 15:22

        I got a 50GB package for about R750/p.m and use about the full 50GB between surfing and updates, if i get 300GB a month that would be great between streaming and steam/game updates.

        Reply

        • Guz

          August 30, 2018 at 17:02

          Is that for 3g? if so why dont you move over to adsl for R750 you can get a pretty decent uncapped 4mb line

          Reply

    • Gr8_Balls_o_Fire

      August 30, 2018 at 14:32

      Why don’t you just switch to uncapped?

      Reply

      • Ghost In The Rift

        August 30, 2018 at 15:20

        I live in Namibia, so internet prices still a bit expensive on the uncapped options and pay not that great

        Reply

        • Gr8_Balls_o_Fire

          August 30, 2018 at 16:29

          Oh shucks. Sorry man. At least you have persistence!

          Reply

    • Kenn Gibson

      August 30, 2018 at 15:53

      So many PC games you buy the box and still have to download almost all of it. different on consoles though

      Reply

  5. Kromas

    August 30, 2018 at 12:57

    What is this “back of the box” you speak of?

    Reply

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