PEGI Moves Loot Box Games to Age 16 Through October 2026

PEGI is raising the age rating of existing digital-only games that sell loot boxes to PEGI 16, and the rollout is running through October 2026. Games currently rated PEGI 3, 7 or 12 that feature paid random items get the new PEGI 16 rating with a “Paid random items” descriptor, PEGI says. The updates apply across all storefronts that use PEGI ratings.

The change follows a broader rules update. Since June, PEGI has assessed newly submitted games against an expanded set of criteria that covers paid random items, communication features and mechanics that push players to keep playing. Now it is applying those standards to older games too. PEGI director Dirk Bosmans said the update keeps ratings from becoming inconsistent when older games stay popular for years.

Some re-ratings have already landed. Eurogamer reports that the EA Sports FC series (see our coverage of EA Sports FC 27), which was previously rated PEGI 3, is affected, and that HoYoVerse’s Zenless Zone Zero (whose 3.3 update lands October 21) moved from PEGI 12 to 16. PocketGamer.biz found Pokémon TCG Pocket now carries PEGI 16 on the UK Play Store, and Fire Emblem Heroes has gone from PEGI 12 to 16, even though that game monetizes through character gacha rather than item loot boxes.

The Games Rating Authority, which administers PEGI in the UK, announced the rollout. Its policy manager Connor Hinde said the volume of changes in a short period is expected and told publishers with questions to contact the PEGI Helpdesk. Companies will need to update their store listings and marketing materials to match.

It only covers digital-only games. A boxed game with a disc isn’t part of this sweep, and a rating doesn’t stop anyone from buying a game, so this works as a signal for parents more than a lock. Retailers and platform parental controls decide what a PEGI 16 label blocks.

The practical result is that some of the biggest free-to-play and sports games, which sat at PEGI 3 or 12 for years, will now sit next to shooters and horror games in the same age band. Publishers with children’s audiences have the most to lose, and the sports titles are the clearest test of whether storefronts treat the label as more than a badge. We’ll watch for which other series change over the coming weeks.

Edited by Kerwin Stewart, Editor-in-Chief · How we report