USK Makes gamescom 2025 Family-Friendly
– 2 min read
Of the games, trailers and demos in the exhibition area at gamescom 2025 that have been reviewed by the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK), more than nine out of ten are approved for ages 12 and under. The USK also provides visitors with insights into its work and information.
As the official youth protection partner, the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK) ensures that gamescom is a family-friendly event. All freely accessible games and trailers have been reviewed in advance by the USK and labelled accordingly with a USK 0, 6 or 12 rating. More than 97 per cent of games, demos and trailers have received a maximum USK rating of 12 and are therefore freely accessible to all gamescom visitors. Access to content rated USK 16 or USK 18 is controlled using age wristbands.
The USK has set up a website for children written in child-friendly language (https://gamescom-kids.de). In addition, the USK has announced a guide for parents on digital games, in cooperation with the Stiftung Digitale Spielekultur (Digital Game Culture Foundation). This will be available as a free brochure or download from 20 August 2025.
The USK will have a stand in the 'Family & Friends Area' in Hall 10.2 (Stand C-009). Here, parents and interested parties can find out more about youth protection in digital games. The programme includes daily talks by the USK on various topics related to its work, as well as quizzes with questions about games and youth protection. During the parents' consultation hour, Melanie Endler, a media educator from the USK, will answer questions about the safe use of digital games.
How sustainable youth protection can work in games and online is the topic of the youth protection panel (Age Verification: Panacea or Mere Placebo?) at the gamescom congress. The panel will include Heike Raab (State Secretary in the State Chancellery of Rhineland-Palatinate), Michael Terhörst (Head of the Office for the Enforcement of Children's Rights in Digital Services 'KidD' at the Bundeszentrale für Kinder- und Jugendmedienschutz (BzKJ)), Kerstin Neubert (Nintendo of Europe) and Svea Windwehr (Assistant Director of EU Policy at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)). The panel will be moderated by Elisabeth Secker, Managing Director of the USK (Entertainment Software Self-Regulation Body). The panel will take place on Thursday, 21 August 2025, from 14:30 to 15:30.
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