Simulated Gambling Now Earns Video Games An 18+ Rating In Australia

The Australian government has made changes to its video game classification system recently and plans to put them into effect in less than a week. The changes take aim at gambling content – both the act of spending real-world money on things like loot boxes and simulated gambling in games.

According to a report on Vooks, games with in-game purchases that are chance-based will be rated M going forward. That means that they’re not intended for anyone under 15. Since "chance-based" is defined as “loot boxes or other randomized rewards,” it seems games like Fortnite as well as the wealth of gacha games and ccgs will fall into this category.

That’s not the only change. The new classification also takes aim at “simulated gambling” and would include “video games that have interactive activities such as slot machine simulators, roulette wheels, or other age-restricted gambling or betting services”. Games that fit that description are now looking at an 18+ rating which legally restricts the game from being sold to minors.

The good news for developers is that this only applies to games classified going forward. The catch is that updating the games could require reclassification, which might land them with the 18+ rating anyway.