Age Rating Decoder
PEGI, ESRB, BBFC, app store and platform ratings side by side — they disagree constantly, and knowing how tells you which to trust for what.
No major age rating system — PEGI, ESRB, BBFC or app store — rates who else your child will encounter in a game, which is why a title rated for seven-year-olds can include open voice chat with strangers.
Age Rating Decoder
Frequently asked
Why do the same games have different ratings?
Because the systems apply different criteria and different national sensitivities, and some are independently assessed while others are self-declared. Violence and language in particular are weighted very differently between European and North American systems.
Are age ratings legally binding?
It varies. Physical media classifications are legally enforceable in the UK and Australia; game ratings in North America are enforced by retailer policy rather than by law; app store ratings are not enforced at all.
What do ratings miss?
Online interaction, voice chat, user-generated content and spending pressure — the four things most likely to matter. A rating tells you about the content shipped in the box, not about what happens in the game once it is online.
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