ELSPA (the Entertainment Leisure & Software Publishers Association) has urged parents looking to purchase games for Christmas to check the game’s packaging for the PEGI age ratings and content descriptors.

Games sold in the UK display PEGI ratings - a pan-European gaming-specific rating system instigated and used by all the major games publishers across Europe.

Michael Rawlinson, Managing Director of ELSPA, said: “With a little over three weeks until Christmas, parents are under increased pressure from children looking to play their favourite games.

"But not all games are suitable for younger children so the games industry, which always has child safety at the forefront of its mind, knows that it is of paramount importance that parents carefully check the PEGI ratings and descriptors to ensure the game’s suitability for the intended player.”