Need for Spirit: Drink & Drive Simulator Faces Investigation by PEGI for Inaccurate PEGI 3+ Rating
Nintendo has taken action by removing a driving game from the Switch eShop due to an incorrect PEGI rating. The game in question, Need for Spirit: Drink & Drive Simulator, initially appeared on the eShop on October 15, bearing a PEGI 3+ rating. However, the content of the game suggests that it may not be suitable for younger players and potentially contradicts the age rating.
Need for Spirit, which originally launched on Steam in 2018, immerses players in the life of a “hapless professional driver tasked with delivering alcoholic beverages to various celebrations, all while battling the perils of abysmal roads and your very own addiction to the booze you’re transporting,” according to its store listing.
The discrepancy arises from the fact that the game has no age rating on Steam, but it carries a PEGI 16 rating on the Epic Game Store due to its depiction of alcohol and tobacco. Typically, PEGI 3+ is assigned to family-friendly games, while titles involving the use of illegal drugs, alcohol, or tobacco are required to bear a PEGI 16 or PEGI 18 rating. Consequently, the game is currently under investigation by PEGI and will need to be resubmitted to the Nintendo eShop with a more appropriate age rating.
A PEGI spokesperson explained, “When an investigation shows that the PEGI rating changes by more than one age category, the game is taken down, and Nintendo requires that the game is resubmitted with an accurate rating (to ensure their parental control tools work properly),” as reported by Eurogamer.
While the Nintendo Switch boasts a catalog of high-quality titles from both first-party and third-party developers, it is also vulnerable to shovelware games. These low-effort titles often launch with significant discounts, and developers frequently release clones of popular games, striving to ascend the eShop charts.
A recent example of this phenomenon is The Last Hope: Dead Zone Survival, a blatant knockoff of The Last of Us, briefly available on the eShop before being removed. While some collectors may hope for such games to become valuable, they are unlikely to reach the status of rarities like a PS4 with the elusive PT installed.