Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo sign up to online scheme
Just three months after the launch of PEGI Online (Pan European Game Information for Online), an ambitious system of guidelines promoting online gaming security for minors, fifteen major videogame publishers have signed up to the scheme, with more in the pipeline.PEGI Online will provide advice to parents about the risks of the online environment and videogames as well as offering protection for young gamers. It is the videogame industry’s own initiative, an evolution of PEGI, the first ever pan-European age rating system for safe use of videogames, launched in 2003. The ambitious programme operates on a voluntary self-regulating basis and is designed to adapt to the demands of the fast changing technology.
The system, combining self assessment by publishers with scrutiny by an independent body, boasts the strictest standards in Europe, turning the protection of minors online into reality. Said Chazerand: “First and foremost this is about the industry exercising a sense of responsibility. Whereas PEGI helps parents make sure that their children are exposed only to material appropriate to their age and their stage of development, PEGI Online secures the best effort of signatories to guarantee that children playing online are not exposed to adult material or inappropriate behaviour. The Europe-wide scheme shows an industry attuned to consumer needs and adept at anticipating them.”
Four cornerstones define the PEGI Online scheme: a safety code and framework contract; a PEGI Online icon for display by the license holder; dedicated websites for applicants and for the general public; an independent administration to manage the scheme together with a process for advice and dispute settlement.
The six point PEGI Online Safety Code (POSC) to which all PEGI Online license holders commit embraces issues such as age-rated game content, appropriate reporting mechanisms, removal of inappropriate content, a coherent privacy policy, community standards for online subscribers and a responsible advertisement policy.
“Videogames and the Internet are a part of today’s reality,” said Jens Uwe Intat, ISFE Chairman. “This is tremendously positive for kids, as new technology gives young people opportunities to learn, have fun, be creative and communicate in ways that previous generations couldn’t have imagined. PEGI Online equips parents to help their children navigate this technology safely.”
List of PEGI Online signatories as of today:
Burda:ic GmbH
CCP
City Interactive
Eidos Interactive Limited
Electronic Art
Funcom A/S
Koch Media GmbH
Microsoft Corporation
NCsoft Europe Ltd.
Nintendo of Europe GmbH
Sony (SCEE)
The Walt Disney Company Limited
THQ (UK) LTD
UBISOFT
Vivendi Games Europe
