The USK Advisory Board has adapted the expansion of its guiding criteria for the age rating of video games. In the future, this will also include “gambling-like mechanisms” that affect EA SPORTS FC, for example.
It was a turning point that the USK had brought about in 2023: for the first time in the 30-year history of football simulations from EA SPORTS, a title of this kind was given an age rating of 12. Lorenzo von Petersdorff, deputy managing director of the USK, explained to us that the reasons for the unprecedented classification of FC 24 included the complex monetization system.
This aspect will become an integral part of the guiding criteria for age ratings for digital games from 2025. This was unanimously decided on December 13 by the USK Advisory Board, on which institutions such as the Ministry for Family Affairs and the Federal Center for the Protection of Children and Young People in the Media are represented.
“Important confirmation of proven youth protection practice”
Loot boxes or chat and purchase functions, all of which represent “usage risks in digital games”, have been included in the rating process since 2023. Previously, however, this was done on the basis of a ruling practice. The usage risks were not officially part of the USK’s guiding criteria.
Elisabeth Stecker, managing director of the USK, sees this change as “an important confirmation of this proven practice for the protection of minors in games”. After all, “30 percent of the games reviewed currently receive a higher age rating due to risks of use”. The number of video games potentially affected is therefore not negligible.
What does this mean for EA SPORTS FC 26?
But what does the anchoring of the risks of use in the USK’s guiding criteria mean in concrete terms for the games affected – such as EA SPORTS FC 26, which is expected in the fall? It is not expected that the age rating will be higher than before. After all, the facets of the assessment have not changed. They have merely become an officially established part of the classification criteria.
However, it is also not to be expected that the age rating will be corrected downwards – unless EA SPORTS makes massive changes to the football simulation. This seems hardly conceivable given the share of sales that live services such as in-game purchases account for for the gaming giant.
The additional labels on game packaging will also remain. Notes such as “Pressure to play often”, “Increased buying incentives” or “Increased communication risks” could therefore also be found on physical copies of FC 26.