Interviews// Michael Rawlinson: General Manager ELSPA

SPOnG: As a ELSPA member, my primary responsibility is to my shareholders. How would adopting PEGI effect my development time and budget? Has that been analysed?

Mike Rawlinson: The reality is that very few publishers will – well, with BBFC, you can only get a ruling on a BBFC rating once you've finished the product. Because the rating is based on guidelines – and if we listen to what the BBFC said in print around Dark Knight - “We analysed this film and we felt that it was borderline around 12 and 15 but in the end we decided to give it a 12”, now whether they gave it a 12 off their own free will and volition or whether it was through heavy arm-twisting and pressure, who knows? I certainly have no evidence one way or the other.

However, clearly there is no way to pre-determine what the rating of that is going to be until you send them the product.

The PEGI people are available to go and talk to developers through the development process and look at things in pre-production and (for) the developer to say, “If my game has this, or this, or this in it where would the rating fall?” And they're (PEGI) able to sit there and say, “Well, because we have a defined list of criteria, I can tell you that if you have that in, you'll get a 12; if you have that in you'll get a 16.”

So, it enables the developer to develop to a set of criteria with much greater confidence of the rating that they're going to get at the end of the process, rather than have to re-program, cut, change or modify the content when it's been through the BBFC if they didn't get the rating they wanted.

From a shareholders perspective they get one rating for the whole of Europe consistent rating, consistent marketing; clearly opens up the market to them.

SPOnG: The 'whole' of Europe barring Germany.

Mike Rawlinson: Currently yes, but bear in mind that Germany is split as the UK is to some extent – although the UK is only sort of partially split, it's only a legal requirement to rate some games that are sold in the shops currently, there's no legal requirement over online game-play or online download in the UK and the same applies in Germany. The German ratings body (Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle) has been bought by the German trade association.

Although it has to work independently I think we will see, in time, a convergence between the way in which the Germans rate their games and PEGI rates their games. I think, you know, we will see Germany begin to adopt PEGI Online, and the PEGI ratings for online content going forward.

I was talking to a German who lives in Austria last week who said, “Well of course if German's want European games there are many ways in which they can get them. They don't have to go to German shops.” So, I think governments are misguided if they think that they can block the sale of product to consumers even in a retail environment.

Many consumers will continue to buy what they get in the shops you know, let's not be foolish about it. But those consumers who want something that they're told they can't buy in the shops, they'll find other ways to get it.

SPOnG: Thanks for your time, Mike.

Mike Rawlinson: I think the other thing I'll just mention is that if your consumers are gamers, and those gamers are voters, then if they believe that gaming is good, it's good for them to communicate that direct to the politician. You know politicians react to their mailbox and unfortunately so often people only write if they want to be negative about something. Therefore politicians say to us, “Well, I just get lots of letters – and lots is, you know, 20 or 30 – I get letters from voters saying, “We're really worried about this stuff.” Those voters are, of course, are voters that read The Daily Mail and have no idea what's actually happening in a gaming context. If they got 50 or 100 letters from gamers saying, “You know what I've been playing games for the last 30 years and I'm very healthy and I've a lovely life and it's a great way to relax at the end of the day or at the weekend; I interact with my children”, and they go positive with it, then politicians might not be quite so nervous about taking the right decisions.

SPOnG: You've got to get past Julian Brazier and Keith Vaz and get to people who know what they're talking about?

Mike Rawlinson Correct. And that will happen when your readers start to send an email, send a letter to their politician expressing a positive view as opposed to letting the politicians just hear the negative view.

SPOnG: Thanks again, it's been very illuminating.