According to new guidelines issued by the South African Film and Publication Board, there is no such thing as a game suitable for "all ages".
South Africa's Film and Publication Board has issued a set of guidelines regarding gaming in the country introducing new rules concerning video game age ratings.
As reported by Business Insider South Africa, the new rules suggest that there’s no such thing as a game that’s suitable for all ages.
"There is no 'All ages' age rating for games," the new document read."Children are not allowed to play a game classified 'PG' unless and only when supervised by an adult noting that such a game may contain classifiable elements that may be disturbing or harmful for children."
"Children from the ages of seven to nine years are not allowed to play a game classified '7-9PG' unless supervised by an adult," the guidelines add.
Only at age 10 does the document allow children to play certain games unsupervised, however, those games must not contain any kind of violence. Even for the games rated "10-12PG", game content has to be not threatening as well as it must not cause moral harm to children, or "contain any occurrences of implied, verbal or actual criminal techniques."
The guidelines also warn that if game developers want to avoid higher-age ratings, their content should not reward players for acts of violence as it allegedly may teach children criminal acts.
Previous guidelines version issued in 2019 had a little more narrow definition of violence, and now developers need to consider not only the acts of violence in themselves but also "detailed instruction or promotion of violence."
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