Thalita Malagò, Director General of IIDEA (Picture IIDEA) Politics IIDEA Takes a Stand in Italy on PEGI and USK At a hearing of the Senate’s 14th Standing Committee on EU Policies on the EU Kids Act, Italy’s IIDEA emphasised the industry’s support for and commitment to the protection of minors, whilst also highlighting the importance of measures being proportionate and tailored to the industry. By Stephan Steininger • 2 min read
Picture: Pexels/Antonio Sáez; AEVI, DEV Politics Ahead of Election: Spain’s Games Associations Issue a Joint Call to Politicians With one month to go before the general election, the two Spanish industry associations, AEVI and DEV, are joining forces and setting out five joint demands. Among other things, they are calling for tax incentives and a Spain Video Games Hub. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Marta Cienkowska, Minister for Culture and National Heritage, during the CEEGA (Picture: Screenshot of livestream) Politics Marta Cienkowska Announces Support Programme for Devs and Changes to Copyright Act The Polish Minister for Culture and National Heritage, Marta Cienkowska, took to the stage at the CEEGAs awards ceremony to reaffirm her support for the industry. The Ministry regards video game developers as artists who promote culture. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Politics Paid Random Items: PEGI Changes Age-Rating of Some Released Digital-Only Games In October, the pan-European rating system PEGI began raising the age ratings of digital-only games that had already been released, when these games utilise paid random items such as loot boxes. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
The Stortingssalen of the Norwegian parliament, who requested the report (Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0) Politics Norwegian Gaming and Foundation Authority Proposes Ways To Classify Lootboxes as Gambling At the request of the Norwegian Parliament and Ministry of Culture and Equality, the Norwegian Gaming and Foundation Authority has proposed three ways on how to amend Gambling definitions to protect consumer from loot boxes and skin gambling. By Pascal Wagner • 2 min read
Politics SELL and Internet Sans Crainte Launch Awareness Campaign Ahead Paris Games Week Under the name “Enter the game”, the French games industry association SELL and Internet Sans Crainte have launched an online campaign designed to support parents in protecting young people whilst gaming, providing information on topics such as parental control systems and PEGI. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
(Picture: Pexels/Gintare K.) Politics EU Kids Act: Commission Seeks Feedback The European Commission is collecting public feedback on the proposed EU Kids Act until 26 November. The aim is to give children and parents a say, as well as the platforms affected. Meanwhile, the EGDF has further refined its statement. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
(Picture/Logos: Pexels, EGDF, VGE) Politics VGE and EGDF Speak of Substantial Disagreement With CPC Regarding Classification of In-Game Currencies In a joint statement, Video Games Europe (VGE) and European Games Developer Federation (EGDF) have rejected the allegations made by the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network. Despite being asked, the CPC has yet not comment the legal basis for its classification of in-game currencies. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
The EU Commission building in Brussels (By EmDee - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia) Politics European Consumer Protection Agencies Take Action Game Companies With Ingame Purchases The EU Consumer Protection Cooperation Network is targeting nine game companies with an EU-wide enforcement to bring their ingame currency practices in line with EU regulations. The companies are Activision Blizzard King, Crytek, InnoGames, Mojang, Plarium, PLR, Riot, Supercell and Ubisoft. By Pascal Wagner • 2 min read
(Rasmuss Gundorff Saederup, Unsplash) Politics Federal Government Answers Parliamentary Questions on Federal Funding In a document running to over 80 pages, the Federal Government has responded to the minor parliamentary question on federal funding submitted by members of the AfD parliamentary group. The new insights gained are limited; most of the data was already publicly available. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
(Picture: Pexels/Tima Miroshnichenko) Politics EU Kids Act: Reactions and Analyses Following the VGE and Bavaria’s Digital Minister Mehring, other stakeholders including the EGDF, Osborne Clarke and Digitaleurope have spoken out on the European Commission’s proposal for the EU Kids Act. One thing is clear: the details are crucial and they still need to be worked out. By Stephan Steininger • 3 min read
Henna Virkkunen and Ursula von der Leyen Politics EU Kids Act: Brussels Places Burden of Proof For Child Protection to Providers Including Games Companies The European Commission has presented the EU Kids Act, bringing significant changes not only to the use of social media by children but also to online games. As PEGI was named a benchmark, the consequences for the games industry may be limited. Initial reactions have come from Bavaria and the VGE. By Stephan Steininger • 4 min read
