14 DAY TRIAL // Video games are a form of entertainment, just like TV shows or movies, meaning that they must follow certain guidelines in order to prevent exposing younger people to images that might have a lasting impact on them.
That is why there are plenty of rating systems, with the two most important ones coming from the ESRB, which handles things in the United States, and PEGI, which is right at home in many European countries. But in Germany, the USK rating system is used, which, coupled with strict guidelines from the government, cuts a lot of content out of many games, like blood and other such imagery.
This fact, plus the project of several interior ministers in the country to punish those who create and distribute violent video games, has generated an uproar among developers in Germany. We've heard Crytek, maker of shooters like Far Cry or Crysis, say that it might move from the country if such an initiative was approved, and now the EA executive vice president and general manager for international publishing, Gerhard Florin, talks about the rating systems in the country.
He says that the USK one should be dropped in favor of the PEGI standard, which doesn't censor video games before they are released. “What we're doing here is censorship,” Florin told the Spiegl. “And no one complains. When we talk about games here it's about violence or their alleged addictiveness, and not about their cultural status. The few good studios are asking themselves why they should stay here anyway.”
But the head of the USK, Marek Brunner, has revealed to Eurogamer Germany that currently there are no plans to move to the PEGI system and that his association isn't the only one to blame, as many censorships come from the government's Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons. “It's hard when half-truths are being used,” Brunner says. “They say the USK does this wrong, the USK does that bad and why doesn't this get a rating?”
Do you think that German politicians will see the error of their ways or will they continue this crusade against video games until only casual titles will be making an appearance in stores in the country? Leave us a comment with your opinion.