BBFC, ISFE, ELSPA, and Tiga: positive responses to the Byron report

The recent review released by Dr. Tanya Byron regarding the rating standards of violent video games in Europe was met with a most positive response from the different media classification groups in the region. The BBFC, ELSPA, ISFE, and Tiga each gave their own statements, generally agreeing with the suggestions given in the comprehensive document released by the British psychologist. More on this in our full article.

Several European media classification groups responded positively to the recent review submitted by Dr. Tanya Byron regarding the current standards for rating violent video games. The BBFC, ELSPA, ISFE, and Tiga each gave their own statements, generally agreeing with the suggestions given in the comprehensive document released by the British psychologist.

In particular, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) acknowledged the streamlined classification system proposed in Byron’s report. David Cooke, Director of the BBFC, mentioned that they were more than ready to take on the task envisaged by Byron and will be working closely with Pan European Games Information Systems (PEGI) to help police the standards of video games in the region.

The Interactive Software Federation of Europe (IFSE), which runs PEGI, was already starting preparations to work on an information campaign with the UK industry to help further the awareness of PEGI among parents, retailers, and gamers. This was to ensure that UK consumers will benefit the most from the added measures they plan on implementing in the future.

Tiga, however, cautioned the UK government against burdening the games industry with the sole responsibility of implementing the information campaign aimed towards consumers. With the amount of competition game developers already face, the last thing the game industry needs is to impose additional costs to it. This was the general statement addressed by Tiga CEO Richard Wilson.

All in all, everything seems to be shaping for the UK games classification system. We’ll be keeping an eye on further developments as time goes on. Make sure to keep coming back to this spot for more updates regarding the matter.