European rating body PEGI has rated EA Sports FC 27 for ages 16 and up because the game contains paid random items, according to the game's entry in the PEGI database.

Earlier games in the series, including EA Sports FC 25, carry a PEGI 3 rating. The change follows PEGI's new interactive risk criteria, which now place any game with gaming loot boxes at PEGI 16 by default.

The PEGI listing for EA Sports FC 27 includes a detailed breakdown of the purchase options in the game, including FC Points, a season pass, and player packs. The EA Sports FC 25 listing states that the game has "no rating issues."

PEGI announced the interactive risk categories in March. They cover purchases of in-game content, paid random items, communication features, and features that incentivize players to continue playing.

Classic rating systems were built around concerns about violence and sexual content, and the new categories add monetization and online features to the assessment.

Connor Hindle, policy manager of the UK's Games Rating Authority, confirmed the rollout in a LinkedIn post. "Since June, newly submitted games have been assessed against an expanded set of criteria within the PEGI rating framework, including new criteria relating to interactive risks," Hindle wrote. "As the UK administrator of PEGI, the Games Rating Authority has now begun applying these updated criteria to selected existing digital products."

That means the change is not limited to new releases. Selected existing digital games are being reassessed, and games that were originally rated as low as PEGI 3 are moving directly to PEGI 16.

North America's ESRB is not following PEGI. An ESRB representative said in March that its research indicated that adding "non-content related features" to the rating process could confuse parents. The ESRB rates EA Sports FC 27 E (Everyone), with a note that the game includes user interactions and in-game purchases.

The result is that the same game now carries very different age ratings in Europe and North America, based on how each body treats loot boxes rather than on the game's content.

Parents and players in Europe who want to understand why a game received a higher rating can check the PEGI database:

1. Open the PEGI website and use the search function to find the game by name.
2. Open the game's entry to see the age rating and the content descriptors.
3. Review the listed purchase options, such as in-game currency, season passes, or player packs, which explain a PEGI 16 rating for games with paid random items.

PEGI has not published a full list of existing digital games that the Games Rating Authority is reassessing under the new criteria.