PEGI ratings board to finally crack down on ‘loot boxes’ in games

For around a decade now, there has been an intense debate around loot boxes in videogames and whether or not they should be considered as a form of gambling. Now, the European game rating board, PEGI, is finally taking steps to curb the practise of selling these randomised packs to minors. 

The games industry has managed to operate in something of a gray zone when it comes to loot boxes, but more recently there have been some growing issues. For instance, Valve, is now facing lawsuits from multiple state governments in the US due to the prevalence of loot boxes in games like Counter Strike. Now, the PEGI ratings board in the EU has outlined plans to finally increase age ratings for games that implement loot box mechanics.

Moving forward, games that sell “paid random items” will automatically get a PEGI age rating of 16+, meaning shops won't be allowed to sell these games to children under the age of 16. In some instances, PEGI warns that it may even issue 18+ ratings. This will automatically apply to any game being sold with ‘blockchain' or ‘NFT' integrations.

If a game offers time-limited offers or quantity-limited offers, as is often the case in many free-to-play titles, then it will automatically get a PEGI 12 rating. Titles that offer daily log-in rewards, another common practise, particularly amongst mobile games, then a PEGI 7 minimum rating will be applied.

It will take some time for this change to be felt in the market. It will only impact new games, submitted from June 2026 onwards and won't retroactively apply to older games still being sold.

This will have a particularly big impact on the sports game market. All of the major sports games nowadays offer a FIFA style ‘ultimate team' mode, where gamers buy packs to unlock better players to use in online matches. Once this change comes into place, all of those games will be rated PEGI 16 or higher, rather than being rated for virtually all ages.

KitGuru Says: PEGI ratings are in place across the UK and EU, so this change will impact many countries. It is unclear if ratings boards in other parts of the world, like the US, will introduce similar changes. 

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