| (1) | Games are classified into categories on the basis of: |
| (b) | Impact of the classifiable elements, and |
| (2) | All three requirements must be considered and content that is rated in any category should fulfil all stated requirements. Should it not, classifiers should consider the higher or lower category, depending on the merits. |
| (3) | There if no 'All ages' age rating for games. |
| (a) | Children are not allowed to play a game classified ‘PG’ unless and only when supervised by an adult noting that such a game may contain classifiable elements that may be disturbing or harmful for children; |
| (b) | No significant single or cumulative occurrences of classifiable elements; |
| (c) | Limited accentuation techniques such as lighting, perspective and resolution; |
| (d) | The content is not threatening, disturbing or harmful; |
| (e) | The theme causes no moral harm; |
| (f) | Occurrences of classifiable elements may be very strongly stylised and not realistic; |
| (g) | No use of incentives or rewards for classifiable elements; |
| (h) | The content contains classifiable elements that have low impact, as set out below: |
| (i) | Competitive Intensity ‘CI’ – content may contain only occurrences of low impact competitive intensity. If content contains occurrences of low impact competitive intensity that is associated to violence, then it may not occur if there is any in-game violence in first-person game play but may occur if there is low impact in-game violence in third-person game play; |
| (ii) | Criminal Techniques ‘CT’ – content may not contain any occurrences of implied, verbal or actual criminal techniques; |
| (iii) | Substance Abuse ‘D’ – content may not contain any occurrences of implied, verbal or actual substance abuse; |
| (iv) | Horror ‘H’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual low impact horror. A fantasy setting may, when appropriate, be regarded as reducing impact; |
| (v) | Imitative Acts and Techniques ‘IAT’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual low impact imitative acts and techniques; |
| (vi) | Language ‘L’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual low impact language; |
| (vii) | Nudity ‘N’ – content may not contain any occurrences of implied, verbal or actual nudity; |
| (viii) | Prejudice ‘P’ – content may not contain any occurrences of implied, verbal or actual prejudice; |
| (ix) | Sexual conduct ‘S’ – content may not contain any occurrences of implied, verbal or actual sexual conduct, but may contain occurrences of affection; |
| (x) | Sexual violence ‘SV’ – content may not contain any occurrences of implied, verbal or actual sexual violence; and |
| (xi) | Violence ‘V’ – content may not contain any implied, verbal or actual in-game violence in first person game play but may contain any implied, verbal or actual low impact violence in third person game play. Content may not contain occurrences of implied, verbal or actual domestic violence. |
| (a) | Material classified as '7-9PG' is not appropriate for children under the age of 7. If the content is particularly entertaining or of educational value, parents or caregivers may decide whether it is appropriate for children in their care from ages 7 to 9 to play it. Children from the ages of 7 to 9 years are not allowed to play a game classified '7-9PG' unless supervised by an adult; |
| (b) | no significant single or cumulative occurrences of classifiable elements; |
| (c) | classifiable elements are not realistic; |
| (d) | limited accentuation techniques such as lighting, perspective and resolution; |
| (e) | the content is not threatening, disturbing or harmful; |
| (f) | the theme causes no moral harm; |
| (g) | occurrences of classifiable elements may be very strongly stylised and not realistic; |
| (h) | no use of incentives or rewards for classifiable elements; |
| (i) | The content may not contain themes that may be harmful or inappropriate for children under 7. The themes may be complex and mature, as long as children aged 7-9 do not find them confusing, distressing or upsetting. |
| (j) | The material contains classifiable elements that have a low to mild impact as set out below: |
| (i) | Competitive Intensity 'CI' – content may contain only occurrences of mild impact competitive intensity. If the content contains occurrences of mild impact competitive intensity that is associated to violence, then it may only occur if there is low impact in-game violence in first-person game play and/or mild impact in-game violence in third-person game play; |
| (ii) | Criminal Techniques 'CT' – content may not contain any occurrences of implied, verbal or actual criminal techniques; |
| (iii) | Substance abuse 'D' – content may not contain occurrences of implied, verbal or actual substance abuse ; |
| (iv) | Horror 'H' – content contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual low to mild impact horror. A fantasy setting may, when appropriate, be regarded as reducing the impact; |
| (v) | Imitative Acts and Techniques 'IAT' – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual low impact imitative acts and techniques; |
| (vi) | Language 'L' – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual low to mild impact language; |
| (vii) | Nudity 'N' – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual low impact nudity in non-sexual contexts; |
| (viii) | Prejudice `P' – content may not contain any occurrences of implied, verbal or actual prejudice; |
| (ix) | Sexual conduct 'S' – content may not contain any occurrences of implied, verbal or actual sexual conduct, but may contain occurrences of affection; |
| (x) | Sexual violence 'SV' – content may not contain any occurrences of implied, verbal or actual sexual violence; and |
| (xi) | Violence 'V' – content may contain implied, verbal or actual in-game low impact violence in first-person game play and/or may contain implied, verbal or actual mild impact violence in third-person game play. Content may not contain occurrences of implied, verbal or actual domestic violence. No details, close-ups or slow motion of violence. |
| (a) | The content is not threatening, disturbing or harmful to children aged 10 and older; |
| (b) | The theme causes no moral harm to children aged 10 and older; |
| (c) | Limited occurrences of significant classifiable elements; |
| (d) | Occurrences of classifiable elements are not realistic; |
| (e) | No use of incentives or rewards for classifiable elements; |
| (f) | The content contains classifiable elements that have a mild impact as set out below: |
| (i) | Competitive Intensity ‘CI’ – content may contain only occurrences of moderate impact competitive intensity. If the content contains occurrences of competitive intensity that is associated to violence, then it may occur if there is mild impact in-game violence in first-person game play and/or moderate impact in-game violence in third-person game play; |
| (ii) | Criminal Techniques ‘CT’ – content may not contain any occurrences of implied, verbal or actual criminal techniques; |
| (iii) | Substance Abuse ‘D’ – content may not contain any occurrences of implied, verbal or actual substance abuse; |
| (iv) | Horror ‘H’ – content may contain occurrences of implied, verbal or actual mild impact horror. A fantasy or comedic setting, when appropriate, be regarded as reducing the impact; |
| (v) | Imitative Acts and Techniques ‘IAT’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual mild impact imitative acts and techniques; |
| (vi) | Language ‘L’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual mild to moderate impact language; |
| (vii) | Nudity ‘N’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual low to mild impact nudity in non-sexual contexts. No details, close-ups or slow motion of nudity in non-sexual contexts; |
| (viii) | Prejudice ‘P’ – content may not contain any occurrences of implied, verbal or actual prejudice; |
| (ix) | Sexual conduct ‘S’ – content may not contain any occurrences of implied, verbal or actual sexual conduct, but may contain occurrences of affection; |
| (x) | Sexual violence ‘SV’ – content may not contain any occurrences of implied, verbal or actual [or implied] sexual violence; |
| (xi) | Violence ‘V’ – content may contain only mild impact violence in first-person game play and moderate impact violence in third-person game play. Content may contain only implied, verbal or actual mild impact domestic violence, if it is justified within context, and the content conveys a strong message against it. No details, close-ups or slow motion of violence; and |
| (g) | Limited accentuation techniques such as lighting, perspective and resolution. |
| (a) | The theme may be threatening, disturbing or harmful to children younger than 13 and may not be consumed by children under the age of 13; |
| (b) | The theme causes no moral harm to children aged 13 and older; |
| (c) | Single or cumulative occurrences of classifiable elements; |
| (d) | Occurrences of classifiable elements are not realistic; |
| (e) | Some use of incentives or rewards for classifiable elements; |
| (f) | Verbal reference to rather than visual presentation of certain classifiable elements, with no noticeable effect; |
| (g) | Classifiable elements form part of a bona fide story line. |
| (h) | The content contains classifiable elements that have a mild impact as set out below: |
| (i) | Competitive Intensity ‘CI’ – content may contain only occurrence of moderate impact competitive intensity. If the content contains occurrences of competitive intensity that is associated to violence, then it may only occur if there is mild impact in-game violence in first-person game play and/or moderate impact in-game violence in third-person game play; |
| (ii) | Criminal Techniques ‘CT’ – content may not contain any occurrences of implied, verbal or actual criminal techniques; |
| (iii) | Substance Abuse ‘D’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual low to mild impact substance abuse. Content with occurrences of implied, verbal or actual moderate impact substance abuse must carry a suitable anti-substance abuse message; |
| (iv) | Horror ‘H’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual moderate impact horror. A fantasy or comedic setting, when appropriate, be regarded as reducing the impact; |
| (v) | Imitative Acts and Techniques ‘IAT’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual mild to moderate impact imitative acts and techniques; |
| (vi) | Language ‘L’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual moderate impact language; |
| (vii) | Nudity ‘N’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual low impact nudity in sexual contexts. No details, close-ups or slow motion of nudity. No use of incentives or rewards for nudity; |
| (viii) | Prejudice ‘P’ – content may not contain any occurrences of implied, verbal or actual prejudice; |
| (ix) | Sexual conduct ‘S’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual low to mild impact sexual conduct; |
| (x) | Sexual violence ‘SV’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual low impact sexual violence; |
| (xi) | Violence ‘V’ – content may contain only mild impact violence in first-person game play and moderate impact violence in third-person game play. Content may contain only implied, verbal or actual mild impact domestic violence, if it is justified within context, and the content conveys a strong message against it. No details, close-ups or slow motion of violence; and |
| (i) | May contain accentuation techniques such as lighting, perspective and resolution. |
| (a) | The theme may be threatening, disturbing or harmful to children younger than 16 and may not be consumed by children under the age of 16; |
| (b) | The theme may not cause moral harm to children of 16 and older; |
| (c) | Single or cumulative occurrences of significant classifiable elements; |
| (d) | Occurrences of classifiable elements may be realistic; |
| (e) | Some use of incentives or rewards for classifiable elements; |
| (f) | The content contains classifiable elements that have a mild to moderate impact, with some elements having a strong impact, as set out below: |
| (i) | Competitive Intensity ‘CI’ – content may contain only occurrences of moderate to strong impact competitive intensity. If the content contains occurrences of competitive intensity that is associated to violence, then it may occur if there is moderate impact in-game violence in first-person game play and/or strong impact in-game violence in third-person game play. Occurrences of competitive intensity may involve realistic but not extreme violence (provided that it does not fall within the ‘XX’ category), and may be in first-person game play; |
| (ii) | Criminal Techniques ‘CT’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual mild to moderate impact criminal techniques; |
| (iii) | Substance Abuse ‘D’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual moderate instances of substance abuse. Content with occurrences of implied, verbal or actual strong impact substance abuse must carry a suitable anti-substance abuse message; |
| (iv) | Horror ‘H’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual strong impact horror; |
| (v) | Imitative Acts and Techniques ‘IAT’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual moderate impact imitative acts and techniques; |
| (vi) | Language ‘L’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual strong impact language; |
| (vii) | Nudity ‘N’ – content may contain occurrences of implied, verbal or actual mild to moderate impact nudity in sexual contexts. No use of incentives for nudity; |
| (viii) | Prejudice ‘P’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal of actual moderate impact prejudice if it is clearly disapproved and used in an education, dramatic or historical context; |
| (ix) | Sexual conduct ‘S’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual moderate impact sexual conduct. May contain details, close-ups or slow motion of sexual conduct. No use of incentives or rewards for sexual conduct; |
| (x) | Sexual violence ‘SV’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual moderate impact sexual violence. The actual occurrences of moderate impact sexual violence may not contain details, close-ups or slow motion of sexual violence; |
| (xi) | Violence ‘V’ – content may contain only moderate impact violence in first-person game play and strong impact violence in third-person game play; and |
| (g) | May use accentuation techniques such as lighting, perspective and resolution. |
| (a) | The theme may be threatening, disturbing or harmful to children; |
| (b) | The theme may cause moral harm to children; |
| (c) | Single or cumulative occurrences of classifiable elements; |
| (d) | Occurrences of classifiable elements may be realistic; |
| (e) | Some use of incentives or rewards for classifiable elements; |
| (f) | The content contains classifiable elements that have a mild to moderate impact, with some elements having a strong impact, as set out below: |
| (i) | Competitive Intensity ‘CI’ – content may contain only occurrences of very strong impact competitive intensity. If the content contains occurrences of competitive intensity that is associated to violence, then it may only occur if there is strong to very strong impact in-game violence in first-person game play and/or very strong impact in-game violence in third-person game play. Occurrences of competitive intensity may involve realistic and extreme violence (provided that it does not fall within the ‘XX’ category) and may be in first-person game play; |
| (ii) | Criminal Techniques ‘CT’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual moderate to strong impact criminal techniques; |
| (iii) | Substance Abuse ‘D’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual moderate to strong impact substance abuse; |
| (iv) | Horror ‘H’ – may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual very strong impact horror; |
| (v) | Imitative Acts and Techniques ‘IAT’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual moderate to strong impact imitative acts and techniques; |
| (vi) | Language ‘L’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual very strong impact language; |
| (vii) | Nudity ‘N’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual moderate to strong impact nudity in sexual contexts. No use of incentives or rewards for nudity; |
| (viii) | Prejudice ‘P’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual strong to very strong impact prejudice; |
| (ix) | Sexual conduct ‘S’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual strong impact sexual conduct. No use of incentives or rewards for sexual conduct. May contain details, close-ups or slow motion of sexual conduct; |
| (x) | Sexual violence ‘SV’ – content may contain only occurrences of implied, verbal or actual moderate to strong impact sexual violence. May contain details, close-ups or slow motion of sexual violence; |
| (xi) | Violence ‘V’ – content may contain only strong to very strong impact violence in first-person game play and/or very strong impact violence in third-person game play; and |
| (g) | May use accentuation techniques such as lighting, perspective and resolution. |
| (10) | Refused Classification |
| (i) | Contains child pornography, propaganda for war or incites imminent violence; or |
| (ii) | advocates hatred based on any identifiable group characteristic, and that constitutes incitement to cause harm, |
must be refused classification and be reported to the Chief Executive Officer to be published the Gazette unless, judged within context, the game is of scientific, dramatic or artistic merit or is on a matter of public interest, in which event the game shall be classified with reference to the Guidelines relating to the protection of children from exposure to disturbing, harmful or age inappropriate materials.
| (b) | Where a game has been classified as a “refused classification”, the Chief Executive Officer shall cause that classification decision to be published by notice in the Gazette, together with the reasons for the decision. |
| (c) | Where a game submitted to the FPB in terms of this section contains child pornography, the Chief Executive Officer shall refer that game to a police official of the South African Police Service for investigation and prosecution. |
| (11) | Restricted Distribution Content – XX |
| (a) | Games must be classified ‘XX’ if it contains— |
| (i) | explicit sexual conduct which violates or shows disrespect for the right to human dignity of any person; |
| (ii) | bestiality, incest, rape, conduct or an act which is degrading of human beings; |
| (iii) | explicit infliction of domestic violence, or |
| (v) | explicit visual presentations of extreme violence; |
unless, in respect of the game, judged within context, is of scientific, dramatic or artistic merit, in which event the game shall be classified with reference to the relevant guidelines relating to the protection of children from exposure to disturbing, harmful or age inappropriate materials.
| (b) | The interpretation of (11)(a)(i)-(iv) above includes instances of: |
| (i) | Detailed instruction or promotion of matters of crime or violence; |
| (ii) | Gratuitous, exploitative or offensive depictions of sexual conduct as well as harmful paraphilia and sexual violence; |
| (iii) | Any content, including occurrences or dialogue, likely to encourage an interest in harmful paraphilia and sexual violence; |
| (iv) | Any sexual violence or sexual conduct related to incentives or rewards; |
| (v) | Gratuitous, exploitative or offensive depictions of violence with an extreme impact or that are excessively frequent, prolonged or detailed, including cruelty to either humans or animals, or real occurrences of violence, that are very detailed and that have an extreme impact; |
| (vi) | Detailed instruction in the use of proscribed drugs, and content promoting or encouraging proscribed drug or substance abuse related to incentives or rewards; |
| (vii) | Apparent lack of consent for any party who participates in sexual conduct or explicit sexual conduct and who appears to be non compos mentis (‘not of sound mind’ – e.g. in a drug- or alcohol-induced state, or mentally ill). |
| (c) | Any content that has been classified as ‘XX’ must be reported to the Chief Executive Officer to be published by notice in the Gazette, together with the reasons for the decision. |
| (12) | Restricted Distribution Content – X18 |
| (a) | Games must be classified as ‘X18’ if it contains explicit sexual conduct, unless, judged within context , the game is of scientific, dramatic or artistic merit, in which event the game shall be classified with reference to the relevant guidelines relating to the protection of children from exposure to disturbing, harmful or age inappropriate materials. |
| (b) | Any content that, in addition to explicit sexual conduct, contains any content referred to in subsection (9)(a)(i) above and has an extreme impact, may be classified as ‘XX’; |
| (c) | Where a game has been classified as ‘X18’, the Chief Executive Officer shall cause that classification decision to be published by notice in the Gazette, together with the reasons for the decision. |
| (d) | Any content that, in addition to explicit sexual conduct, contains any classifiable element that has an impact as set out below, must be classified as X18: |
| (i) | Very strong competitive intensity in games combined with very strong or extreme level of first-person and third-person game play violence; |
| (ii) | Any nudity or sexually-related activity related to incentives or rewards; |
| (iii) | Extreme impact third-person game play violence and very strong impact first-person game play; |
| (iv) | Any very strong impact criminal techniques; and |
| (v) | Any very strong impact initiative behaviour (where appropriate) |
| (e) | Any content that is classified as X18 must be notified to the Chief Executive Officer to be published by notice in the Gazette, together with the reasons for the decision. |
