PEGI 18-rated games soon readmitted to Windows 8 Store
Microsoft had a bit of a mix-up.
Some relatively good news about Windows 8 at last: Microsoft won't prohibit PEGI 18-rated games like Skyrim, Dishonored and Mass Effect from sale on the Windows 8 Store.
The rules will change sometime in December, Microsoft's Antoine Leblond (Windows Corporate VP of web services) told Gizmodo.
Windows 8 launches today, which means PEGI 18-rated games are still outlawed for the time being.
Apparently there was a bit of a mix-up. It seems Microsoft translated US ESRB ratings Mature and Adult to mean PEGI 16 and PEGI 18 in Europe, but they don't.
ESRB Mature games are common and include Skyrim, Dishonored and Mass Effect. The Adult rating is stamped mostly on pornographic material. Outlawing Adult content on the Windows 8 Store would therefore prohibit mostly porn.
But the PEGI 18 rating covers much more than Debbie Does Dallas. "It basically ends up disqualifying games that would be ESRB Mature," Leblond explained.
Leblond wanted to go on the record early to give "a heads up that that's where we're going, so they can have the peace of mind around developing the kinds of games that will have those ratings".