PEGI and ESRB will continue to rate games through remote working

While Japan’s video game ratings board CERO has closed down due to the Coronavirus outbreak, both European and North American video games ratings boards will stay open amid the pandemic.

Revealed in a report by IGN, the two video game ratings boards will continue to dish out video game ratings despite the ongoing spread of the COVID-19 virus.

“Thanks to a good deal of advance planning, since March 16 ESRB has been operating remotely due to the COVID-19 outbreak,” an ESRB representative told IGN. “We have seen no delay in assigning ratings. We will continue to assign ratings remotely for as long as required.”

On the other side of the pond, PEGI revealed that the Coronavirus pandemic will only have a “minimal impact” on the board’s reviewing process. With the service’s employees situated around Europe, the service has been designed around cooperative remote working for years.

“In short: yes, we are currently working remotely with minimal impact on our operations,” PEGI told IGN. “When this situation started to unfold across Europe a couple of weeks ago, we quickly found a way to continue our daily operations by working remotely.

“Given that PEGI (in Brussels) works with two independent administrators that are located in The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, and they deal with publishers all over the world that we do not have to meet in person, cooperating remotely has always been part of our daily routine. But now it happens from homes instead of different offices.

“We informed the companies using the PEGI system that, until local authorities announce a change to the current measures, we will be working like this. But until now, the impact of the pandemic and the resulting measures has been minimal.”

Without the continued work of both of these ratings boards, video games would not be allowed to see a release in European or North American territories. For more information on how ratings boards work, specifically the ESRB, check out HR awesome Noclip documentary below.