European Gaming Associations VGE and EGDF Launch Pixels to Policy Industry Showcase

With the “Pixels to Policy” campaign, the European gaming industry wants to inform about itself, its key figures, and its performance capabilities. The target audience of the campaign, which was initiated by the two European umbrella organizations VGE and EGDF, are decision-makers in politics, but also people who aren't familiar with video games. However, some information is missing.

The information communicated as part of the Pixels to Policy campaign is not new. At least not for anyone involved in the gaming business. The campaign primarily summarizes background information and current data that the two European umbrella organizations Video Games Europe (VGE) and European Games Developer Federation (EGDF) have already compiled and published. This information has been presented in a rather unusual but fitting side-scroller format, even if it lacks performance and clarity.

It can be difficult to explain the multi-faceted nature of video games and the sector as a whole – especially to people who may not have picked up a pad, or turned on a PC or console to experience the many joys and benefits of video game play.  We hope that this campaign will enlighten, inform and inspire," says Simon Little CEO of Video Games Europe.

And EGDF’s Managing Director Jari-Pekka Kaleva adds: "Game development is extremely exciting and complex and we are excited to share how we work and how we deliver the varied, high-quality creative content to millions of players around the world."

From a German perspective, at least, there is even more missing. Level 2, which deals with minor protection and parental guidance, focuses exclusively on the pan-European age rating system PEGI. The German USK, which does indeed have a unique position and thus an outsider role in the EU, is not mentioned. This may be understandable, as it is naturally in the industry's interest to have a uniform system throughout Europe one day, but with regard to the target audience – policy makers – it sends the wrong signal, because it is the policy makers themselves who are responsible for the legal framework in Germany that makes the PEGI system legally insufficient for the German market.

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