For transparency: Esports News UK editor Dom Sacco used to work full-time for British Esports between September 2016 and February 2021, and currently does some freelance work for them, producing their weekly email newsletter
The British Esports Association (BEA) has released the Esports Age Guide.
Targeted towards parents, teachers, and children, the guide shows the age rating of various esports titles, providing a step-by-step guide that suggests which esports titles are appropriate for different children depending on their age.
The guide starts with ‘sports games ideal for children and families’, with no title having a higher age rating than three, which includes games such as FIFA, Rocket League, and Madden.
The next stage, with no title’s age rating higher than seven, is titled ‘first strategy titles and shooters’. This stage includes titles such as Clash Royale, Hearthstone, and Brawlhalla.
Next is titles with an age rating no higher than 12, titled ‘multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games and more for teens’. This includes such games as League of Legends, Dota 2, Overwatch, Super Smash Bros, and Fortnite. For additional guidance for adults as to the appropriateness of these titles for young people, this description is included: ‘realistic-looking violence towards non-human-looking characters, non-realistic-looking violence towards human characters, animated violence, some characters and costumes depict scantily clad women’.
The next stage, comprising titles with age ratings no higher than 16, is titled ‘moving on up: for older teens’. Titles such as Valorant, Tekken, Halo, Starcraft, and Team Fortress 2 are included here. Violence appears slightly more realistic than the previous stage but is still cartoony and not too gory.
The final stage, consisting of titles with age ratings no higher than 18, are the goriest, most realistic combat titles in esports — many of which are incredibly popular. Titled ‘shooters and brawlers for adults’, this stage consists of such titles as Quake, Call of Duty, Gears of War, Mortal Kombat, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and Rainbow Six Siege.
Earlier this year, Green Man Gaming conducted a survey on the parents of gamers, finding that parents felt more positively about gaming now than before the pandemic.
Furthermore, whether or not violent games encourage violence in young people has been a hot topic for years. Whatever your stance, having a guide such as this, that is easy to interpret and enables adults to make responsible choices on behalf of their children — using all available information — is undoubtedly a good thing.
Read the British Esports Association’s guide in full here.
Related stories
