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Even PEGI can't rate user-gen content, says Satchell

Microsoft's XNA boss adds a new strand to the PEGI vs BBFC issue

User-generated content is set to become another twist in the games industry's ratings row because, according to Microsoft's head of XNA, Chris Satchell, neither of the classification groups will able to handle it sufficiently.

"PEGI and the BBFC - the ratings bodies - are not going to be able to rate community content," he told GamesIndustry.biz at the GameHorizon conference in Newcastle, UK.

Instead, he believes the only way it can work is for the community to practice self-regulation - a move which will yield positive results.

"We have to rate ourselves [by giving the community tools] - they want to see it succeed and if you give them tools they'll act responsibly."

Following the government's Byron Report earlier in the year, it was recommended that the BBFC increase its role in allocating age ratings to games in the UK, a move which publishers believe will be unworkable.

The recommendation, which has been provisionally accepted by the government, is open to a period of public consultation, and a concerted effort to change the plans is likely.