Windows Store begins accepting PEGI 18 games today

Microsoft's Windows Store will begin accepting games with a rating of PEGI 18 today after initially announcing that the store would not accept "mature content".

Back in October, the Windows Store guidelines stated that games and apps with a rating over PEGI 16 would not meet the store's certification requirements, which would prevent them from being released on the Windows marketplace. This meant that games in Europe like Mass Effect 3, Dishonored, Deus Ex and The Walking Dead would have been unavailable on the Windows Store.

Later that month, the guidelines were changed to accept "mature" content for the Windows 8 Marketplace.

Today marks the first day that PEGI 18 (or the equivalent rating) games can be submitted to the store, with Microsoft announcing that The Witcher and Grand Theft Auto 4 coming to the platform soon.

"In welcoming PEGI 18 games into the Store, we again reinforce two principles — flexibility and confidence —fundamental to the Windows Store," the director of program management for the Windows Store, Ted Dworkin said in a blog post. "We recognize that people have come to expect and appreciate rich gaming experiences on Windows and this includes games rated PEGI 18.

"We also want to ensure that every customer using the Store can browser and acquire apps with confidence."