B.C. retailers applaud self-regulatory approach to video game classification

British Columbia retailers are lauding a new self-regulatory approach to classifying video games that adopts the international Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) system, much to the relief of those who were worried about the government adopting a B.C.-only guide. Since the introduction of legislation mandating a restrictive ratings system last April (CNM, April 19/01), a new conservative government headed by Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell has apparently decided to extend the industry more flexibility than the previous NDP government, which first introduced the new laws. An industry spokesperson says retailers representing over 85% of product sold in the province have signed on to follow the system and to a new education campaign to make parents aware of new restrictions on mature content. He says the province now has one of the best regimes in place to protect children. While retailers will have to shoulder the burden of educating staff not to sell mature-rated games to customers under 17 years of age, they can at least take comfort that the ratings system will extend consistently across the continent. The decision to embrace the New York, NY-based ESRB wholesale ends over a year of debate on the province’s controversial initiative to restrict access by children to video games with violent or adult content. The debate pitted game producers and retailers against the government over a proposal to adopt existing ratings for movies to video games, potentially creating a B.C.-only scheme to restrict video game sales to those under 18 years old while most North American jurisdictions display ratings applying to those under 17 (CNM, Sep. 20/00). The Video Games Act, passed last April by the NDP government then in power in the province, left actual regulations up in the air (CNM, April 19/01). At the time, provincial regulators said that while they preferred to adopt an industry-wide ratings scheme, there would likely still be a requirement that the new rules comply with restrictions on film, with age thresholds of 14 and 18. Industry representatives, spearheaded by the Canadian Interactive Digital Software Association, argued vociferously that such ratings would put the province out of step with the majority of the North American market, resulting in sales lost to out-of province Internet and other retailers. Those fears have been calmed by the adoption of the industry standard ESRB ratings, says Kevin Evans, B.C. VP for the Retail Council of Canada. He says the new government recognized the market realities of the video game industry. "It’s a different government from the one that brought in the legislation," Evans tells Canadian NEW MEDIA. "I think that the current government can speak for itself, but one of the comments that it made was that the B.C. market accounts for maybe one per cent of the total North American game market. So it didn’t make a lot of sense to have a separate rating classification… They saw the inherent problems that that would create for the manufacturers, retailers, and it just didn’t make any business sense whatsoever." He says the industry will instead be self-regulating. The vast majority of the province’s retailers have agreed not to sell M-rated games to those under 17 unless accompanied by an adult. There will also be in-store and point-of-purchase materials available to explain the ratings system, including a poster to indicate a store’s adherence to the program. Finally, those stores will educate their floor staff about the new regulations. Evans doesn’t expect the undertaking to result in any significant cost to retailers. Collateral costs are being picked up by the ESRB, which will also pay half the costs of materials printed by individual shops that wish to display the ESRB logo or to display their logo on ESRB-produced materials. He says it’s even possible that participation in the program will become an advantage. "I think we’ve established a critical mass here that is building some momentum, and it may soon become a competitive disadvantage if you are not a participating retailer." The self-regulating system could become the toughest regime on the continent, despite the government’s hands-off approach, says Evans. "There’s no other jurisdiction in the world that we’re aware of where a critical mass of retailers has gotten together and voluntarily agreed to restrict the sale of ESRB-rated product. In the States, you’ve got some retailers who do that individually. But here we’ve got about 85% of the product that’s sold in British Columbia, and we’re working on getting more retailers on board," he notes. "I think the real winner here is the parent. Parents in British Columbia are going to be the best-equipped in North America, we think, to make appropriate choices about the kinds of video entertainment their children are playing with. That’s great news."

B.C. retailers applaud self-regulatory approach to video game classification

Broadcast | November 29, 2001

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