PEGI was "short-changed", says Chazerand

Patrice Chazerand, secretary general of European publisher association ISFE - the body that runs PEGI - has told GamesIndustry.biz that he believes the Byron Review underestimated the sophistication of the PEGI ratings system, but that he appreciated the recognition shown by Dr Byron all the same.

In an interview discussing the impact that the Review might have on the pan-European ratings system in the UK, Chazerand was complimentary of Dr Byron's methodology.

"Among the things we're appreciative of is the recognition, which is science-based, it's not to please the industry," he said. "And it's recognition as expressed by Byron all along that she didn't want to damage the PEGI system.

"For us it's encouraging, because it's coming from a leading expert doing thorough research about our industry, so we take it as a good tribute, and one that isn't just out of courtesy."

But he did admit to initial disappointment when he first discovered that the Review recommended an increased role for the BBFC, at the expense of PEGI.

"Our first reactions, you won't be surprised - you don't like to go from front to back, so the fact that the BBFC would be on the front of the box, and PEGI on the back, we didn't take it really as an improvement.

"But at the same time, our second thoughts were that it's not bad to be on the back anyway, and you just have to ask yourself if you deserve to be on the front.

"If the experts say that a five year-old PEGI had any chance to match the recognition of the decades-old BBFC symbols…well, you just have to admit that you've lost the argument on the consumer-facing element.

"So that was certainly a little painful, but at the same time fair. It's the scientific approach."

However, Chazerand went on to point out that research that PEGI had commissioned indicated that the UK public was ahead of other European countries in terms of rating recognition.

"I have to tell you that the family studies that we regularly run across Europe always show the UK public leading other Europeans in terms of recognition, so it did come as a bit of a shock, certainly not good news, but we readily admit that Tanya Byron had all the right sources to draw her conclusions that the BBFC symbols catch the attention and are understood by the public.

"I certainly agree that if you want to give information to the public, to empower them, the information you give is understood. So the logic of her report is superb," he said.

"That was our reaction about the visuals. In terms of the methodology, in some ways it is still good to have PEGI in charge of running the lower two age classes, because it was part of the tribute to the value of PEGI.

"We also cannot take exception to the expansion of the lowering of the statutory age to 12, because that's what we're advocating, because it doesn't make any sense for a 12 year-old to be able to buy adult products."

But while Chazerand agreed that he could see the sense behind questioned the reasoning behind consistency of symbols, he was wary of too close an association between games and films.

"On one hand I see the benefits of exposing the UK public to the same visuals for games and films if your only purpose it to make it easier for them. On the other hand if you're objective is to educate them about different media, we would support the Dutch system more strongly.

"There they have a ratings system for so-called passive media, and they have PEGI as a system for interactive media. It's not a problem for the Dutch public, and for us it's the way to go to educate the public about the fact that for protecting minors, for example, these two types of content have very different impacts.

"I'm sure Dr Byron understands that, but at the end of the day, the recognition of the PEGI as a good ratings system beyond the lower two classes…we got sort of short-changed, and I don't think this is good for the education of the public."

The Review's recommendations will now go forward into a period of public consultation, and actions based on the report aren't expected to take effect until the Autumn.