EA Sports FC 27 now carries a UK 16 rating and needs an ID to purchase – here’s why

EA Sports FC 27 launches on 25 September rated PEGI 16, the first game in the series not classified as suitable for all ages.

Pan-European Game Information, the body whose ratings appear on games sold in the UK and 37 other countries, announced an overhaul of its classification criteria on 12 March 2026, and the new rules took effect in June for newly submitted titles.

Any game containing what PEGI calls paid random items now receives a default rating of PEGI 16, and the body has said certain cases could rise to PEGI 18. FC 27’s popular Football Ultimate Team mode, where players buy packs of randomised player cards, meets that definition.

PEGI defines paid random items as any in-game offer to buy digital goods where the buyer does not know what they are getting before purchase. The category covers card packs, gacha systems and keys or consumables that unlock random rewards, whether bought with real money or with virtual currency purchased using real money.

The wording deliberately closes the naming loophole that let publishers describe the same mechanic as packs, chests or pulls. Last year’s game EA Sports FC 26 carried a PEGI 3 rating, the lowest available.

The change introduced by PEGI extends beyond loot boxes and packs. Games with time-limited or quantity-limited offers, including paid battle passes, now attract a minimum PEGI 12.

Anything involving NFTs or blockchain assets goes straight to PEGI 18, as do games that give players no way to block or report other users online.

Dirk Bosmans, Director of PEGI, said the updates would give parents and players clearer and more transparent guidance.

ID required

UK retailers cannot legally sell a PEGI 16 title to anyone aged 15 or under, so shops must now check ID for physical copies of FC 27 in the same way they would for a more violent game.

Digital buyers face a different obstacle as accounts with parental controls set below 16 may be blocked from purchasing or downloading the game on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, Steam and the Nintendo eShop.

Whether an under-16 plays the game remains a decision for parents, since the rating restricts the sale rather than the play.

Electronic Arts has pushed back on the comparison between Ultimate Team and gambling, and points out that players can build squads without spending money by trading and earning coins.

The mode remains commercially central to the company, accounting for a substantial portion of the $5.5 billion in annual add-on revenue reported in EA’s latest financial results.

Pushback against lootboxes and packs

Pressure for the overhaul has been building for the better half of a decade.

PEGI overturned an 18 rating it had given the indie card game Balatro, reclassifying it as PEGI 12 after its developer argued the game contains no betting and no spending, and pointed to EA FC’s 3 rating as evidence the criteria were inconsistent.

PEGI said at the time it would review its gambling policies across all games.

Emily Tofield, Chief Executive of the Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Trust, has welcomed the new ratings as progress but argued PEGI should apply an 18 rating retrospectively to existing titles.

UKIE, the trade body for the British games industry, said the rating system is kept under regular review to reflect how games evolve, and that the update means parents can expect the same protections here as with any other game carrying a 16 rating.

The UK government considered bringing loot boxes under the Gambling Act 2005 and declined, saying it found no evidence of a causative link to gambling harms. PEGI’s rating carries no legal force over the mechanic itself, only over who a shop can sell the box to.

FC 27 costs £69.99 at RRP for the standard edition, with UK retailers including Smyths listing it at £64.99, and runs on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, Switch and Switch 2. Ultimate and Ultimate Plus buyers start playing on 18 September.

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