A study by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says that game retailers are both the strictest and most effective among entertainment retailers in enforcing age rating policies. Their undercover shopper survey found that 87 percent of attempted purchases of Mature-rated games by children under the age of 17 were prevented.
“The ESRB is the gold standard in entertainment ratings. The ESRB and its retail partners deserve thanks and praise for their outstanding work in empowering and helping parents,” said Michael D. Gallagher, president and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association. “This is the fourth report that has video game retailers performing the best in this important category. We have an unparalleled commitment to working with parents and retailers, and will continue to help ensure that this remarkable level of enforcement remains high.”
“We applaud video game retailers for once again demonstrating our industry’s ongoing commitment to parents,” said ESRB president Patricia Vance. “Enforcement of video game sales policies continues to be substantially higher than that for any other entertainment industry. This success is due in part to retail partnership programs like the ESRB Retail Council, through which we regularly conduct our own mystery shops to help retailers maintain a high level of store policy enforcement. We will continue these responsible efforts with unwavering dedication to serving parents.”
Read more about the ESRB mobile rating system in this exclusive [a]list interview.
