C 214/24
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
16.6.2023
Wednesday 18 January 2023
36.
Emphasises that the video game industry, users and parents should not underestimate the risks and effects stemming from gaming disorder; recalls that scientific research has shown that puberty and adolescence are periods in life in which people are most at risk of addictive behaviour; calls for further collaborative work among video game designers, publishers, platforms and the wider stakeholder community, including national competent authorities and the Commission, to help mitigate the risks of gaming disorders; suggests that more awareness campaigns should be launched to ensure that parents and young gamers are aware of the risks related to gaming disorder and calls on game developers to avoid manipulative game design that can lead to gaming addiction, isolation and cyber-harassment;
37.
Notes a lack of EU-wide disaggregated data on average time spent playing games, average in-game spending, general gaming experience and consequent socio-psychological effects, calls on the Commission to collect this data on a yearly basis and present a report to Parliament on it;
38.
Notes that the gaming industry has access to vast quantities of sometimes sensitive personal data; stresses that it has to ensure that personal data processing is undertaken in line with the General Data Protection Regulation other EU legislation and that users profiles created using behavioural data are not used for manipulative and discriminatory purposes; calls on the competent authorities to ensure that relevant EU and national law is rigorously enforced; stresses that patterns analysis of players through the collection of data should not favour techniques aiming to hook players, but should instead focus on enhancing the gaming experience; encourages developers to consider game design in chapters or frequent save points to facilitate attention breaks during which players are able to disconnect;
39.
Points out that online video game platforms can be used by fraudsters for phishing; calls for information campaigns to be conducted in order to raise awareness about the risks involved, especially among minors and young people;
40.
Urges the video game industry, the Commission and the Member States to develop an action plan to ensure gender balance in all stages of development in the online games industry; calls, in addition, on the industry to avoid objectifying women and to avoid creating, repeating or exacerbating gender stereotypes; stresses that these far too common practices create a hostile environment for women and girls in online games;
Ensuring a safe online environment for online video game users
41.
Welcomes industry-led initiatives, such as PEGI, which is used in 38 countries; considers that such a rating system can be particularly beneficial in providing content descriptors and information on the recommended age for playing a game, which helps parents to select appropriate games for their children; underlines that the rating system forms one part of the overall PEGI Code of Conduct, which collectively aims to ensure a safe environment for gamers; welcomes the updated approach by PEGI, which now informs consumers if a game includes paid apparently random features; underlines that the presence of in-game paid content, including paid apparently random content, does not preclude parents from managing access to that type of content, while permitting a child to access the base game if judged to be age-appropriate; notes that some countries have made the PEGI system into law; calls on the Commission to assess how the PEGI system is being implemented in the different types of games available on the market and across the Union and to explore the possibilities for enshrining it in EU law in order to make the PEGI system and its Code of Conduct the harmonised, mandatory age-rating system applicable to all video game developers, app stores and online platforms in order to avoid fragmentation in the single market and provide legal certainty for the video game industry;
42.
Acknowledges the potential of the PEGI system to provide important pre-contractual information to consumers; considers however that this industry-led initiative should be complemented by additional measures to ensure the highest level of consumer protection and to resolve the consumer law issues created by in-game purchases and loot box mechanisms;
43.
Encourages the industry, including game platforms and publishers, independent expert partners and rating agencies to continue awareness-raising campaigns on the PEGI system, so that more parents know about its existence, and to remain reactive in order to adapt the rating system in response to developments in video games and their in-game content to continue to facilitate parental choice;