UK video game industry trade group UKIE issued a press statement today "welcoming" the "Bailey Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood." The report emphasized the need for "responsible action" of video game developers when it comes to protecting children and the positive steps the industry has taken. In its submission to the Review (found here), UKIE pointed out the positive actions the UK video games industry is already taking to protect children. Those efforts include the introduction of the PEGI age rating system for video games, responsible advertising and online ratings efforts. UKIE (then as ELSPA) successfully lobbied the government to "enshrine" the PEGI system in the Digital Economy Act 2010.
The video games industry offers parents various tools to make smart choices, and most console systems provide parental controls to keep adult content out of the hands of children. UKIE also says that the video game industry is continuing to improve online safety by expanding the PEGI Online system to "ensure an even safer online gaming environment for children."
On marketing and advertising, UKIE points out that the video games industry achieves a high level of advertising and marketing compliance with the ASA Code and PEGI labeling guidelines. In 2008, a survey by the ASA showed that 99 percent of video games advertisements were compliant with their advertising codes. A recent survey by PEGI to measure the compliance with the PEGI labeling guidelines found that the UK achieved a 78.9 percent compliance rate across all media, with compliance of nearly 90 percent for press advertisements and over 80 percent for TV advertisements.
