Earlier this month it was revealed that Microsoft's original Windows Store guidelines prohibited any games rated PEGI 18 from being available to Europeans, despite the same games rated ESRB Mature being available to those in the United States. This effectively meant a range of games such as Skyrim, Call of Duty, Borderlands 2 and Max Payne 3 wouldn't be available in Europe, but would be available in the USA.

Now, Microsoft has revised their stance on "mature" content in the Windows Store, and they will in fact allow games rated PEGI 18 onto the Store to bring content available in Europe on par with that in the States. Antoine Leblond, Windows Corporate VP of Web Services, told Gizmodo that the change will take some time to come into effect - the content won't be available straight away, but hopefully by December.

Lebond hopes that by informing developers of the changes to the Windows Store policy, they will "have the peace of mind" to continue developing games with potentially mature content. He also mentioned that Microsoft is still keen for desktop apps to thrive outside the Store, as of course you'll still be able to purchase games from places such as Steam, regardless of Microsoft's Windows Store policy.

Posted: Oct 26, 2012 7:07 am
Related Forum: PC General Forum

Source: http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-will-actually-allow-pegi-18-games-on-the-store