The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a major impact on all corners and sectors of the world, including the video games industry. Most recently, we heard about the temporary suspension of Japanese age ratings board CERO until the beginning of May, which will inevitably have an impact on releases of games in the region. However, its European and North American counterparts – PEGI and ESRB respectively – seem to have taken necessary steps well in advance to ensure that they don’t face similar disruptions.

Speaking to IGN, the ESRB said in a statement that due to “a good deal of advanced planning,” they have been working remotely for almost a month now, and as such, haven’t had to delay reviews for age ratings of games in spite of all the disruptions.

“Thanks to a good deal of advance planning, since March 16 ESRB has been operating remotely due to the COVID-19 outbreak,” an ESRB spokesperson said. “We have seen no delay in assigning ratings. We will continue to assign ratings remotely for as long as required.”

European board PEGI also provided a statement to IGN, and said similar things, ensuring that it has been working remotely for a while now, and given how it operates even on an ordinary basis, it won’t be hit by any delays.

“In short: yes, we are currently working remotely with minimal impact on our operations,” a PEGI spokesperson said. “When this situation started to unfold across Europe a couple of weeks ago, we quickly found a way to continue our daily operations by working remotely. Given that PEGI (in Brussels) works with two independent administrators that are located in The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, and they deal with publishers all over the world that we do not have to meet in person, cooperating remotely has always been part of our daily routine. But now it happens from homes instead of different offices.

“We informed the companies using the PEGI system that, until local authorities announce a change to the current measures, we will be working like this. But until now, the impact of the pandemic and the resulting measures has been minimal.”

Given that getting age ratings is a crucial part of the launch process for every single video game release, it should come as a relief to publishers, developers, and consumers that two big markets in Europe and North America won’t be bit by delays at least in this area. As for Japan, CERO has closed its doors until May 6. We’ll keep you updated on new developments as and when they come our way, so stay tuned.

The Trine trilogy seems to be heading to the Nintendo Switch. PEGI recently rated the “Trinelogy” and it’s likely that the initial three releases – Trine, Trine 2, and Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power – are included. Now the real question is when the official announcement will be made by developer Frozenbyte.

Currently, only Trine Enchanted Edition is available for the Switch. Trine 2: Complete Story and Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power will be out in the next few months. The ports aren’t done by Frozenbyte, but instead by BlitWorks, which is renowned for porting a variety of titles, like Super Meat Boy, Bastion, Don’t Starve, and so on, to other platforms.

Frozenbyte, in association with Modus Games, is currently developing Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince. The upcoming sequel is currently in development for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch. It’s currently due to release in 2019, but details on its story and gameplay have yet to be revealed.

With microtransactions having become the nexus of a storm, more and more governments and agencies around the world have started to look into how they could regulate them, or at least, better inform customers about their presence in a game they may be looking at, so they can make more informed decisions.

On which note, the Pan European Game Information board, known more commonly as PEGI, the agency that rates games for the European market, has announced that it will be adopting a new label to denote whether or not a game has in-game purchases and microtransactions. If nothing else, it’s a better way for people buying games, especially parents who may be buying them for their kids and may not necessarily be informed about them, to know what they are getting into.

“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,” Simon Little, PEGI’s managing director, said. “Considering that physical releases are an important part of the market, this was an important gap to fill.”

Of course, with many European markets moving outright to ban forms of monetization such as lootboxes, in the end, it is to be hoped that publishers themselves will drop exploitative monetization practices, and we will instead not have to rely on these labels.

Epic Games’ Shadow Complex originally released back in 2009 for the Xbox 360 and it seems like a remastered version is on the way. This is according to the Pan European Game Information (PEGI) rating board which currently has a listing for the game. And since PEGI listings don’t exist for games that haven’t played by its members, this more or less confirms its existence.

Interestingly, the listing states that Shadow Complex Remastered has a release date of December 2nd for PC (which is, well, today). Whether the remaster will be coming to the Xbox One in the future, which seems to be a given since the original was exclusive to the Xbox 360, remains to be seen.

We’ll have to wait for an official announcement from Microsoft or Epic Games in the meantime. Regardless, would you be interested in a remaster of Shadow Complex? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and stay tuned for more information (perhaps an announcement at The Game Awards on December 3rd?).

Limbo, the acclaimed hit stylized platforming adventure game that was originally released on the Xbox 360, and then went on to create waves on pretty much every single platform imaginable, already hit the Xbox One last year; now, the long announced PlayStation 4 version may not be too far behind, as apparently, European ratings board PEGI apparently now has a listing for the game- meaning that a release cannot possibly be too far behind, at least in Europe.

Yes, there have been instances in the past where something was submitted to a ratings board and then just never materialized, but most often, that happens with the ESRB in America, and they are such isolated incidents to begin with anyway that one cannot possibly reasonably assume a pattern or trend based on those.

So, yeah. Limbo might be coming to the PS4 soon, and if you have not already played it on the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS Vita, iOS devices, or PC, this is your chance to jump on it.

PEGI’s Dirk Bosmans responded to all this when speaking to MCV. “The industry organizes campaigns on a regular basis to inform as many consumers as possible. Every single bit of marketing should carry a PEGI label. So each time the game is marketed on the side of a bus, on TV, or in magazines, you will see the PEGI label.

“Parents who take a sincere interest in what their kids are playing will have found out about PEGI ratings. We cannot force them to do that. Ironically, the only ones not inclined to share information about PEGI, are the tabloids. Lots of sensationalist stories and pointing fingers, but hardly a paragraph on age ratings and the responsibility that parents carry as well.”

UKIE CEO Jo Twist also refuted the claim that they weren’t not doing enough to raise awareness. “The games industry takes the health and wellbeing of players very seriously. We’re always looking at new ways to raise awareness of PEGI, for example we have an askaboutgames stand at this year’s Eurogamer Expo.”

So the question now remains: what are the so-called newspapers and tabloids doing to educate individuals on the same?

Move over BBFC, because as of today the organisation no longer certifies video games and instead the Pan European Game Information takes its place, becoming legally enforceable for the first time.

For several years, the BBFC and PEGI ran in tandem, both apportioning out certificates for games but had its pitfalls. Each system has its own criteria and as such led to some huge discrepancies, partly due to the fact BBFC classifications had their roots in film and don’t necessarily factor in the interactive element. For example the first Mass Effect game was rated 12 by BBFC and 18+ by PEGI, such huge differences meant suggest a significant inconsistency. As the Byron Review of 2007 stated, “having a dual classification system and two sets of symbols often made things confusing for the consumer”. Worse still was that whilst BBFC classifications were legally enforceable, PEGI weren’t not and even when PEGI ratings were often treated as such, they were still merely advisory.

Five years on and PEGI ratings are not only the sole ratings system for video games in the UK, they’re also legally enforceable for the first time. For selling a game to a child under the age of either the 12, 16 or 18 rated PEGI certificates, retailers could be faced with up to 6 years imprisonment and a fine of £5,000. This may be seen as taking a hard line with retailers, and rightly so in some cases, age restricted products should face universal sanctions, but the problems with video game classification grow far deeper.

Back in 2008, an Interactive Software Federation of Europe Nielsen report found that only 49% of parents surveyed found PEGI ratings ‘useful’ when purchasing a game and only 62% were even aware of the European game rating system, suggesting that vast swathes of European parents are either unaware, or simply disregard the ratings.

What could the reasons for this be? A parent wouldn’t often be found actively purchasing an 18-rated film for their children, so why are games seemingly exempt from what seems to many as ‘common sense’?

Games are a relatively young medium, having been around for a comparatively short amount of time compared to other forms, with even less time having mainstream acceptance. Is it possible that this, combined with a view that retail video games are still a pursuit for the juvenile, and as such an 18-rated game is still seen as being suitable for a 12 year-old? Or even something as simple as pier pressure?

Hopefully with the new enforcement of PEGI’s ratings will pave the way for new levels of consumer understanding. Each game now not only comes with an age rating from a single organisation, but PEGI ratings also include content descriptors, a collection of eight icons which aim to universally indicate the content and suitability of the game.

A change in attitudes towards game certification certainly isn’t going to happen over night and even now it seems quite a largely seismic shift in views has to occur following the full implementation of PEGI; an increasing number of ‘parents’ are gamers and have an increased level of understanding about the content of games, but what about those who do not?

The UK Interactive Entertainment organisation has recently launched the Control.Collaborate.Create campaign, which aims to promote the PEGI system, aiding parents in making informed decisions about which games are suitable. ‘Control’ is designed to give parents the know-how to control game content, like parental settings on games consoles, or a thorough understanding of the ratings system. ‘Collaborate’ seeks to encourage parents to directly engage in the games their children and playing and ‘Create’ promotes games as the fantastic, creative medium it is.

Similar is the website askaboutgames, which has involved famous faces like Jo Whiley, as well as competitions and blogs to help inform and educate, connecting players with games which they will get the most out of.

The implementation of a single certification system is certainly a start, and the robust of thorough nature of PEGI will hopefully stand it in good stead for the future. One problem is addressing the overall understanding of video games ratings and whilst a simplified, standardised system is certainly a start, we are far from the end.

Previously video games were rated through either the BBFC or PEGI, the latter having not been legally enforceable until today.

A sole ratings system was originally proposed back in 2009 by The Byron Review, the crux of the reporting being that “having a dual classification system and two sets of symbols often made things confusing for the consumer”.

Under the PEGI system, retailers who fail to adhere to the strict 12, 16 or 18 rated certificates could face up to a maximum 6 years imprisonment and a fine of £5,000. As well as the ratings system, non-numerical symbols are employed to indicative the specific kinds of content to be found in the game, as well as wether it features any online connectivity.

Currently the system ratings system in the UK is shared between Pan European Game Information and the BBFC, but come the 30th, it’ll be just down to PEGI.

In addition, for the first time PEGI ratings will be legally enforceable in the same manner BBFC ratings are, meaning retailers face prosecution if age restrictions aren’t closely observed.

However, the new ratings system is still technically subject to Parliamentary scrutiny and therefore a possibility of a small delay remains.

Jo Twist, CEO of Association for UK Interactive Entertainment stated: “We welcome the news from government that July 30th is now looking the likely date for the implementation of PEGI as the single age rating system for video games in the UK.

“To prepare for the transition to the new system, we’ve already held PEGI briefing sessions to make sure that the industry is clear about what these changes will mean for them.

“We very much believe that the sole adoption of PEGI will provide clear and consistent direction on age ratings for parents and will be a vital tool in helping them to understand the types of games that their children should be playing.”

Perspective jumping indie title ‘Fez’ has suffered a plethora of delays, but it’s release may be drawing that little bit closer: The game has just been rated by America’s ESRB and was rated by Europe’s PEGI back in December. The game is scheduled for an ‘early 2012’ release. I’m willing to bet a few more delays are to be encountered, but hopefully not another full year…

Thanks to Joystiq for the info.