Overview
- This week PEGI’s UK administrator began applying new 'interactive risk' criteria that require existing digital-only games with paid random items to be re-rated to a minimum PEGI 16.
- The rule covers paid random items such as loot boxes and gacha mechanics and was announced in March with new assessment of purchases, communication features, and play-incentivising mechanics.
- Multiple high-profile mobile and online titles have already been bumped to PEGI 16, including EA Sports FC entries, Pokémon mobile releases, Mario Kart Tour, Fire Emblem Heroes, and Zenless Zone Zero.
- North America’s ESRB has declined to adopt the same non-content rating changes, creating different age labels and access rules for the same games between Europe and the US.
- PEGI warned publishers to expect a high volume of reclassifications and directed them to its helpdesk; the move follows years of regulatory pressure in Europe and recent actions such as the New York attorney general’s 2026 legal steps against loot-box practices.