Last week, Japanese ratings board CERO announced its plan to cease operations until May 6th to abide by newly implemented, coronavirus-related guidelines. The ESRB and PEGI, rating agencies in North America and Europe, respectively, are not similarly halting their operations. Both have instead begun working remotely. As such, the ESRB is expecting no delays with regards to its schedule. PEGI is only experiencing “minimal impact.”
The two governing bodies confirmed their respective working conditions in statements to IGN. The ESRB reached out first, revealing that thanks to “advanced planning,” remote work has been ongoing since March 16th due to coronavirus. A spokesperson told IGN, “We have seen no delay in assigning ratings. We will continue to assign ratings remotely for as long as required.”
PEGI later offered an update of its own. Once the pandemic began spreading across Europe, the agency quickly devised a way to implement remote working measures. A representative shared the following,
Given that PEGI (in Brussels) works with two independent administrators that are located in The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, and they deal with publishers all over the world that we do not have to meet in person, cooperating remotely has always been part of our daily routine. But now it happens from homes instead of different offices.
Coronavirus has affected the gaming industry at-large, resulting in event cancellations and studios having to transition to remote work. Several game releases have taken a hit, too. Indefinite delays for The Last of Us Part II and Marvel’s Iron Man VR count among the most notable.
[Source: IGN]
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