The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has just published the results of a study that shows a 22% decrease in underage purchases of M-rated videogames in 2008. With the recent release of everyone’s favorite whipping boy, Grand Theft Auto 4, videogames have been under particularly heavy fire from the mainstream media as of late, so this report comes as great news for the industry.
Only 20% of the FTC’s secret shoppers were successful in purchasing M-rated games this year, compared to 42% in 2006, and 69% in 2003. Of all of the retailers surveyed, Game Stop/EB Games performed best, turning away a praiseworthy 94% of shoppers. Walmart stopped 82% from making purchases, followed by Best Buy with an 80% rejection rate.
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The study encompassed a variety of rated material, including R- and unrated movie tickets and DVDs. Of all media types, only R-rated DVDs showed as steep a decline in underage purchases as videogames. The following chart presents a full breakdown:
[via ftc.gov]
