Marvel Rivals Gets An Age Rating Change
Marvel Rivals has held a T for Teen rating in the US and a 12+ rating in the UK and Europe since it launched in 2024. That has now changed, and PEGI has raised the recommended age rating for Rivals players to 16+.
The change appears to have been quietly rolled out in Europe and the UK this week, with Rivals players noticing that the PEGI badge on the hero shooter’s various store pages is now a 16 rather than a 12. There’s no explanation as to why Rivals’ rating has changed, although considering some of the more recent additions to the game, there’s a pretty solid theory that seems to explain it.
The Balloons Are To Blame
Some of you might point to the various, rather revealing, swimsuits and other skins that have been added to the game. That original Captain America swimsuit skin probably deserved a PEGI rating of its own before it was subtly tweaked. It’s not all the extra superhero skin on show that seems to be to blame for the age rating change, though – it’s the gacha mechanics.
Like most live service games, Rivals has had ways to earn and buy currency since its inception. However, this year, it has leaned harder on some mild gambling elements. The theory on which of those elements exactly led to Rivals’ reclassification is the balloon system that was added to the game back in June.
The balloon event in Rivals presents players with a board of balloons that you pop to receive in-game cosmetics. Some items are rarer than others, and if you want to pop more balloons, you have to part with more of your currency. It sparked a debate among players when it was first rolled out over whether it was a true gacha mechanic, and whether it fit the definition of gambling.
What side of that debate you happen to fall on doesn’t matter, as PEGI appears to have definitively decided that it is indeed gambling. Again, although not confirmed, the PEGI rating badge for Rivals now has a note that reads “includes random items” as part of the warning about in-game purchases.
Gambling and gacha mechanics in video games that are played by people who aren’t legally old enough to gamble has been a hotly debated topic in the video game world for years. As demonstrated by the increased rating in Europe that remains unchanged in the US, European lawmakers and ratings boards take it more seriously than their US equivalents. It’s why loot boxes have been outright banned in countries like Belgium and Holland. PEGI outlined its intentions to clamp down on the mechanics earlier this year, and it seems Rivals has now fallen foul of those changes.
The game launched on December 6, 2024, and is developed and published by NetEase Games. Its ESRB rating remains T for Teen, focusing on violence.
