43% of parents are unaware of games rating systems such as the PEGI and BBFC ratings employed in the UK. This news comes from a study which surveyed 4,000 people across the UK, Germany, France and Italy, the BBC reports.

The survey, which was carried out on behalf of Microsoft, also revealed that 75% of parents were concerned about the content that their children were exposed to in videogames. Gaming was also shown to be a solitary activity in children, with 64% of children playing alone, less than 10% playing with their family and 12% with friends.

Parents also saw themselves as the key regulators in deciding what games their children played, rather than industry regulators such as the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) which provides ratings for games and visual media in the UK.

A spokesperson for the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) said, "We welcome the opportunity to highlight the range of devises such as age content suitability ratings and parental controls that support parents in exercising their responsibilities."

According to the survey, nearly 50% of parents thought one hour of gaming a night was a reasonable limit.