A few days ago a general dissatisfaction erupted on social networks with the potential internet censorship in México thanks to the new Telecommunications Act . The fact is, most of the media have forgotten to mention something that's also affected by this law: videogames.

The video game industry in México can also change a lot in the coming months, mainly because the government aims to create a national body that classifies games (just how it's done with movies entering the country).

Currently, production of video games is based on the classification made by the ESRB to sell their games in Mexico; however, with this new regulation, these companies would have to pay an undetermined fee for audiovisual products to be classified by the Secretary of Government and the General Management of Radio, Television and Cinematography.

 "Yes, there would be a fee for the concept of rights to pursue the matter, because ultimately the Interior Ministry would be performing administrative activities, human capital, and that implies a cost," Edgar Burgos from the Ecologist Mexican Green Party said.

According to experts like Master Rodrigo Diez, constitutional lawyer and professor at the Escuela Libre de Derecho, this censorship may greatly affect the marketing of video games:

By having a national system for classifying games entering the country there will be no limits or rules, standards will most likely be very high and we could never see series such as Grand Theft Auto in the country anymore. Ah! but that's not all, of course fans of GTA and other games that come to be considered "offensive or violent" by this new system would not be so calm. In the worst case, it is likely that the games were to be sold on the black market. Furthermore, the release dates of video games would not be scheduled to coincide with the United States of America and/or the rest of the continent, this as a result of a comprehensive review by the Federal Executive to games that pretend to hit the market in the country. It would be absurd for example, to ask Nintendo, Sony or any other company to "do us a favor" and send the game before the average date set for its release because it "must be revised." Therefore, the game would come out on its expected launch, but not to the general market but only to the hands of this new classification body for review.

Returning to the monetary issue, according to research firm The Competitive Intelligence Unit (The- CIU), the approximate value of the video game industry in Mexico is almost $1,200 million US dollars.This would mean a risk of huge losses due to the possible inclusion of the black market, as previously mentioned.

——This is a recopilation of excerpts from the following articles by Carol Sandoval, Francisco Rubio and Gabriela Chávez:

http://www.vidaextra.com.mx/analisis/como-afectaria-la-nueva-ley-de-telecomunicaciones-a-los-videojuegos-en-mexico#comments

http://www.cnnexpansion.com/tecnologia/2014/04/24/los-gamers-bajo-la-lupa-de-pena-nieto

I hope it does not happen, it would be stupid to implement it, the market is growing steadily and i think this would just drag it down.

No me sorprendería con todas las malas y estúpidas decisiones que esta tomando el gobierno.

Sounds fair enough. If other countries make money from rating games, then Mexico should too.

Gah getting ratings for video games is already super expensive. Guess Mexico will see much less indie games from now on at least.

Viva Mexico for doing stupid shit!

Actually both the ESRB and PEGI are both non profit and non govermental organizations which are not enforced by law, they are just used as a standard for users and parents to make informed decisions before buying a game and as a requirement by retail stores and console manufacturers for developer studios to license their games.

Sneaky little tax right there

Well, look at it this way, at least the US can now supply a black market in Mexico.

Are they dropping the prices of video games by the way? I'll never buy games at 100 dollars.

is that good or bad?

as long as games are still sold to the public, in a normal, safe and sound manner, i would conisder this fair enough i guess.