Classifying online games
Many video games produced today are able to be played online. Some of these games can be played either individually or online with other people (such as Left 4 Dead and Counter Strike).
Other games are played entirely online (for example Massively Multi-Player Online Role Playing Games – MMORPGs – such as World of Warcraft).
The games' own capabilities or terms of use often determine or limit the content
Video games which have the potential to be played online (Little Big Planet, Street Fighter 4) have the contraints of the game engine's capabilities and the Terms of Use of the game company to control the type of content created or contributed by users. For example, when creating a character in World of Warcraft the game's engine prevents players from giving their characters names which contain offensive language.
Game companies also employ their own censorship standards to protect both the integrity of the game and game-players from unwanted content. For example, while players in online games communicate with each other in their own words, and direct the actions of their characters, these interactions are monitored by Game Moderators who can reprimand or remove players who break the rules.
Sometimes the Classification Office will examine and classify the software you buy from the shop
To play many online games you first need to buy a disc from a retail shop to gain access to the online world. If the game is being sold from a shop in New Zealand, and has restricted content in it, it will need to be submitted to the Classification Office to have New Zealand's classification criteria applied to it before it can be sold.
If an online game is hosted in New Zealand it must comply with New Zealand law
New Zealand's classification law doesn't apply all over the world – but it does apply to websites hosted in New Zealand, and content downloaded onto computers in New Zealand.
Learn more about how the classification law applies to the Internet
Online games hosted in New Zealand must comply with New Zealand law and may need to be submitted for classification if they contain restrictable content such as violence.
