PEGI’s Loot Box Decision: It Will Now Be +16

The age rating system in Europe, PEGI, is making a significant change that will shake up the gaming world. Games that contain loot boxes will now be labeled with a PEGI 16 rating.

Loot boxes have always been a subject of debate in the gaming industry, and it seems a major change is on the horizon. As you may recall, Valve recently faced a class-action lawsuit alleging that it operated an illegal gambling operation. Now, PEGI is updating its rating criteria for games with microtransactions and loot box systems.

PEGI Ratings Change in June 2026

We will see changes in four main categories of the Pan-European Game Information (PEGI) age ratings. First, games containing paid battle passes and limited-time items intended to bring players back to the game will receive a PEGI 12 rating. Games with NFT or blockchain mechanisms will fall directly into the PEGI 18 category.

Regarding loot boxes; games with paid random item systems will be labeled with a PEGI 16 or, in some cases, a PEGI 18 rating. This could significantly impact games like the EA Sports FC series, which are currently rated PEGI 3 (suitable for all ages). Additionally, systems that bring players back to the game, such as daily tasks, will receive a PEGI 7 rating, while systems that punish the player for not returning (e.g., loss of progress) will be rated PEGI 12.

Finally, games that do not have communication restrictions such as blocking and reporting will be rated PEGI 18. PEGI Director Dirk Bosmans stated the following regarding these new changes:

“It has been incredibly beneficial to learn from the experiences of our colleagues in Germany. We are confident that these ambitious updates to PEGI’s classification criteria will provide parents and players with more useful and transparent advice that better reflects the general experience they can expect from the video games they play.”

In other news, data miners have discovered codes suggesting that the controversial loot box system may soon come to Marvel Rivals. Additionally, you can check out Valve 's official response to the lawsuit in New York, which rejects the allegations that loot boxes are illegal gambling.

For more information, you can read our news about Pokémon Pokopia surpassing 2.2 million sales in 4 days.

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