EA Sports FC 27 Rated PEGI 16 in Europe as Loot Box Rules Kick

EA Sports FC 27 carries a PEGI 16 rating in Europe, a big jump for a series that has sat at PEGI 3 for years. The reason behind the change is Ultimate Team. PEGI's breakdown for the game lists its purchase options, including FC Points, a season pass, and player packs, and those packs count as paid random items under PEGI's updated rules. Announced in March and applied to newly submitted games since June, the rules make PEGI 16 the default for any game with loot boxes, with PEGI 18 possible in some cases. Of course, EA has a long history with this topic, having once defended loot boxes as "surprise mechanics".

FC 27 isn't the only game affected, either. PEGI is now rerating existing digital-only games rated 3, 7, or 12 that sell paid random items, with changes rolling out through the rest of October. Pokémon Go, Pokémon TCG Pocket, Mario Kart Tour, and Zenless Zone Zero have reportedly been bumped up already. The new criteria also cover time-limited offers (PEGI 12), daily quests and similar return rewards (PEGI 7), and NFTs or chat that can't be restricted (PEGI 18). PEGI says it followed the lead of Germany's USK, which made similar changes in 2023. Read full story