PEGI 3, 7, 12, 16 and 18
PEGI 3, 7, 12, 16 and 18 are the age ratings of PEGI (Pan European Game Information), the video game rating system used in most of Europe. The number is the minimum age PEGI considers the game’s content suitable for.
How to read it
PEGI is used in more than 35 countries, including the United Kingdom, and is supported by Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. Video Games Europe founded it in 2003. Publishers fill in a questionnaire for every version of a game, which gives a provisional rating; then one of PEGI’s two administrators checks the answers against the game’s actual content: NICAM in the Netherlands reviews PEGI 3 and 7, and the Games Rating Authority in the UK reviews 12, 16 and 18. PEGI says the rating is about age suitability, not difficulty: a PEGI 3 game can be hard for young children to play.
Also searched as: pegi 12, pegi 16, pegi 18, pegi 3, pegi 7, pegi ratings.
What each age means
| Rating | What PEGI says |
|---|---|
| PEGI 3 | Suitable for all age groups. No sounds or pictures likely to frighten young children; very mild violence in a comical context or a childlike setting; no bad language. |
| PEGI 7 | Scenes or sounds that can possibly frighten younger children; very mild violence that is implied, non-detailed or non-realistic. |
| PEGI 12 | Slightly more graphic violence towards fantasy characters, or non-realistic violence towards human-like characters; sexual innuendo or posturing; only mild bad language. |
| PEGI 16 | Violence or sexual activity that looks as it would in real life; more extreme bad language; use of tobacco, alcohol or illegal drugs. |
| PEGI 18 | Gross violence, apparently motiveless killing or violence towards defenceless characters; glamorised illegal drug use; simulated gambling; explicit sexual activity. |
Some non-game apps on stores that use IARC carry a “Parental Guidance Recommended” mark instead, PEGI’s warning that an app such as Facebook or YouTube can offer a broad variety of user-generated or curated content.
The descriptor pictograms
PEGI prints pictograms beside the age to explain why a game got its rating.
| Pictogram | When PEGI uses it |
|---|---|
| Violence | Depictions of violence; only non-realistic or non-detailed at PEGI 7, increasingly realistic at 16 and 18 |
| Bad language | Mild swearing at PEGI 12, strong language at PEGI 16 |
| Fear / Horror | “Fear” at PEGI 7 for frightening pictures or sounds; “Horror” on higher-rated games |
| Gambling | PEGI 12 for themes that prominently reference gambling; PEGI 18 for simulated casino-style gambling |
| Sex | PEGI 12 for innuendo or posturing, 16 for erotic nudity or intercourse without visible genitals, 18 for explicit sexual activity |
| Drugs | Illegal drugs, alcohol or tobacco; only on PEGI 16 or 18 games |
| Discrimination | Stereotypes likely to encourage hatred; restricted to PEGI 18 |
| In-game purchases | The game offers digital goods or services for real money |
In-game features that raise the age since June 2026
From June 2026, PEGI rates some online and spending features, not only content, after working with Germany’s USK, which made similar changes in 2023 under the German Youth Protection Act. Paid random items such as loot boxes make a newly submitted game PEGI 16, or PEGI 18 for social casino games. Time-limited or quantity-limited offers make it PEGI 12; purchases built on NFTs or similar cryptocurrency assets make it PEGI 18. Daily rewards for coming back are PEGI 7, or PEGI 12 if players are punished for not returning. Chat that can’t be blocked or muted and has no moderation makes a game PEGI 18.
North America’s ESRB keeps these apart from the age: its interactive elements, such as In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items), “do not influence the rating assignment” (see E).
Where PEGI is the law: the United Kingdom
In the UK, PEGI ratings have had legal force for physical games since 30 July 2012. Following Professor Tanya Byron’s review, the government extended statutory classification to games suitable only for ages 12 and over, and the Video Standards Council, which administers PEGI in the UK, became the designated video games authority. Games for under-12s are still rated voluntarily. Under the Video Recordings Act 1984, supplying a game in breach of the labelling rules is an offence, and the 2012 labelling regulations set the colours: a white age on red for 18 and on orange for 12 and 16.
PEGI and the ESRB
The two systems use different ages. The ESRB has E for all ages, then E10+ at 10, T at 13, M at 17 and AO at 18; PEGI has 3, 7, 12, 16 and 18. Both bodies are part of IARC, the coalition of rating authorities whose single questionnaire rates digital games and apps on online stores.
More video game ratings
Browse symbols drawn with letters and numbers or squares and rectangles.
Sources
- What do the labels mean? (PEGI), PEGI (Pan European Game Information)
- PEGI age ratings, PEGI (Pan European Game Information)
- The PEGI organisation, PEGI (Pan European Game Information)
- How we rate games (PEGI), PEGI (Pan European Game Information)
- PEGI expands age rating criteria with interactive risk categories, Press release, Brussels, 12 March 2026, PEGI (Pan European Game Information)
- Explanatory Memorandum to the Video Recordings (Labelling) Regulations 2012, SI 2012/1767, Explanatory Memorandum, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, legislation.gov.uk (UK Government)
- The Video Recordings (Labelling) Regulations 2012, SI 2012/1767, regs. 19–21, legislation.gov.uk (UK Government)
- Ratings Guide (ESRB), Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)
- Frequently Asked Questions (ESRB), Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)
Last reviewed October 2, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research