Marketing Legalities

Your best bet is to check the PEGI guidelines

Jamie’s right. Computer games in Ireland aren’t regulated by any governmental authority on an active basis. The closest we have to this is IFCO.

They only excercised this authority on one occasion, when they banned Manhunt 2 in 2007; never happened before or since. So PEGI is the way to go.

I do think you will have to be careful given your age bracket includes those able to legally drink in Ireland/UK but not in the US.

the film classification boards tend to deal with games..

Have a look at some of the guidelines from the film classification board in Ireland (www.ifco.ie) and in the UK (where they are legally enforced – http://www.bbfc.co.uk/) and in Germany which has its own system which deviates from PEGI.

also if you are going to be marketing in the US you will need to look at their guidelines too

does it have to be beer?

Aphra

Wow thanks for your responses guys, really helpful!

Do the same standards still apply for online flash games, or is it more of a grey area?![/quote:fd001ba462]

Online flash games are going to be far more lax about it. The reason we pushed for lower PEGI ratings in Activision is purely for sales. If parents want to buy a game for 5yr old Billy, a non gamer parent may go purely off the age ratings. That and most retailers won’t stock games if not PEGI rated.

Online flash games don’t need to be "stocked" as they are generally not for sale so PEGI shouldn’t really be a requirement

At least its about to get a little simpler:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2012/may/10/game-age-ratings-simplified-pegi

I think pretty much every European country except Germany subscribes to/applies PEGI and PEGI online.

But if you are looking for a US market you need to take a look at their sensitivities too

Aphra

There is what’s called a "PEGI OK" stamp of approval you can get for games which are online and not at retail, it’s important to get this done as many parents will be suspicious of a game that isn’t rated.

For the US, check out http://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.jsp

Cheers

Jamie

Be aware too that embedded advertising in games is as regulated as advertising in any other media. Sometimes industry folks seem to think that a rating deals with all legal requirements which is certainly not the case. Advertising alcohol or using alcohol in media aimed at children is regulated in lots of jurisdictions. How much enforcement of applicable laws there is will also vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

….on the flipside of that, with regards to the Appstore specifically, if Apple get it into their mind that your game is likely to be downloaded by children (whether it’s aimed at children or not) they’ll deny you access to a LOT of adverts on iAds etc. for products not deemed suitable. That is a hell of a lot. Not just boose and fags.

Yes, beer drinking will affect marketing. You should use something other which is creative and innovative and will inspire kids.