Archive notice: This article was originally published on February 14, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
According to pressetext, the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK) has presented its annual report for 2007. It shows that only 5.3 percent of the video games examined last year received no youth rating. 1.5 percent received no classification at all because of particularly questionable content. However, the overwhelming share of games, around 93 percent, was approved for young people. 60.1 percent were placed on the market with an age rating of twelve and over. ‘The USK annual report covers all examination procedures before titles go on sale; it is not a one-to-one representation of the market,’ emphasises Christine Schulz, head of the USK, in conversation with pressetext.
A total of 2,807 cases reached the USK in 2007, around 200 more procedures than in the previous year. The classification body distinguishes between various game genres. Titles in the dexterity category, so-called arcade games, were examined most frequently. These were followed by the game collections and simulation genres. Shooter games came fourth, with the controversial first-person shooters accounting for 3.7 percent of all examinations. ‘Providers are legally obliged to submit their games to the USK for classification by the highest state youth authorities if their products are to be accessible in public,’ Schulz explains. Products without a classification may be supplied only to adults, and retailers have no legal certainty as to how long they can legally offer these titles.
The USK also confirms the trend towards casual gaming, in other words the increase in family-friendly games. From the classification body’s perspective, these achieved their final breakthrough in 2007. For the first time since 2002, consoles were able to overtake the PC again. Console games thus accounted for 51.6 percent and PC games only 46.5 percent of examinations. Examination applications for next-generation consoles now account for more than a quarter of total application volume.
Compared with other countries, Germany has a very strict youth-protection system. ‘The examination practice is also much more precise than elsewhere,’ Schulz tells pressetext. Since the USK was founded in 2003, approval for minors has been refused in 492 procedures. In 149 cases, there was no classification at all. According to the USK’s assessment, such games are usually indexed by the Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien (BPjM).
Further information:
- USK
BPjM
