I’m trying to configure parental control (child lock) for The Sims 4 on PlayStation 4. The game is bought and played in Finland and it is rated PEGI 12. When I set the parental control level to 5 (equals to PEGI 12) the game is disabled (starting it is locked). When I look at the info on PS4 of the game, it says Level 9. This is not PEGI 12 but PEGI 18. What is wrong?

Hi @tubelix1 I have to inform you that, sadly, this is a Sony requirement and there is no possible workaround for this. Parental Control level in PS4 is always set by the most restrictive Age Rating for the title. Sims 4 has a +18 rating in Russia, and I’m afraid this is affecting other less restrictive ratings like PEGI. This is just how PS4 works. We are currently having communications with Sony about this matter, however, It does not seem that Sony will be addressing this issue anytime soon.

Parental control level of TS4 on PS4

16 Replies

EA_Mai
EA Staff
8 years ago
Hi @tubelix1,

If it is listed as Level 9 in PlayStation game information, you will need parental controls to be set to that level to be able to access the game.

Sony would be the best to answer questions related to the Parental Controls for PlayStation 😉 However, in this case, I would say best solution would be changing the parental control level whenever you want to allow your child to play the game. Keep in mind they will be able to access other games you might not want them to play as well. Quoting Sony's article:

"It is not possible to set different parental control levels for each user of the PlayStation 4 system, so always set the parental controls to suit the youngest child in your home. You can adjust them at any time to allow viewing or play by an adult or older child, but remember to reset them to ensure your youngest child only sees content appropriate for their age."

Source, and more info: article on Sony's official website about Parental controls

Welcome to Answers HQ!

-Mai
Anonymous
8 years ago
Thanks for your answer EA_Mai.

> "Keep in mind they will be able to access other games you might not want them to play as well."

This is what I’m trying to avoid. I want to disable games Level 7 (PEGI 16) and up so that the children cannot access them. There is obviously now a conflict how the game is rated by PEGI and how it is rated in PlayStation 4. I have to try and contact Sony about this problem.
Anonymous
8 years ago
Hi,

the question is: why is it listed as Level 9?
Simianosaurus
8 years ago
I have this issue too.
Raising the parental control level when he wants to play this game is not really an acceptable solution.
It works for now, but if the game is listed as a PEGI 12, it should be playable by users with parental control level 8 as that is supposed to give access to PEGI 12 games.
I have had an online chat to support about this and they have said they will file a bug report with the devs.
Anonymous
8 years ago
The parental control level 5 (or 6) matches PEGI 12. Parental control level 7 (or 8) matches PEGI 16. They need to fix it to 5 or 6, not 8.

Here you can see combinations of game rating labels and parental control levels:
http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps4/basic/game.html
Anonymous
8 years ago
Same issue here. Hope this gets fixed soon.
SimGuruIcarus
EA Staff
8 years ago
Hi @tubelix1

I have to inform you that, sadly, this is a Sony requirement and there is no possible workaround for this.

Parental Control level in PS4 is always set by the most restrictive Age Rating for the title. Sims 4 has a +18 rating in Russia, and I’m afraid this is affecting other less restrictive ratings like PEGI.

This is just how PS4 works. We are currently having communications with Sony about this matter, however, It does not seem that Sony will be addressing this issue anytime soon.
Simianosaurus
8 years ago
Maybe this needs to be made clear at point of sale. It's listed as a PEGI12 and I bought it for a 16 year old to play, yet they can not without bypassing the restrictions, which I really don't want to do.
Will be seriously considering requesting a refund as the person it was bought for can not play it.
Anonymous
8 years ago
The Box stated "age 6 (and above)" in our country. I bought it for our kids. What now?
Anonymous
8 years ago
I have exactly the same issue. My son is 13 and he bought the game from the Playstation Store based on the information shown there. In my opinion this game is clearly being miss-sold either by EA or by Sony. It's certainly being wrongly advertised as it's not fit for purpose. The box has a big logo on the front which states that the game is PEGI 12 - so that is what it should be. Especially as there is no information anywhere on the pack which states that because in Russia or wherever the game is sold as 18+ this makes the PEGI 12 sticker useless. Other games makers seem to be able to get this right, but not EA.
EA should be forced to put an 18+ PEGI rating on the packaging unless they can be certain the game will run as PEGI 12 in England where it's being sold.
Sony should make sure the rating systems they are using work AS THEY SHOULD in each country where the game is sold.
I have requested a refund from Sony for this game, so we'll see what happens.
If we don't get a refund, then I'll write to the newspapers and TV with story and this will be the last EA game we will ever buy - especially as they also caught us out on the PVZ Garden Warfare game, which stated it was PEGI 7 on the box but wouldn't run unless the parental controls were set for 13+.