Earlier in 2024, Valve announced that games being sold in Germany were going to require an Age Rating to continue to be sold, and now there's a deadline.
An update was posted to Valve's official Steamworks documentation (thanks SteamDB), that now makes it clear that game developers have a deadline of November 15th 2024 to ensure an Age Rating is provided. If one is missing, from that date the games simply won't be displayed to Steam customers in Germany.
Developers will need to "truthfully complete Steam's built-in content questionnaire and publish the results". Thankfully Valve has a built-in system for this, so it shouldn't take long for developers to do.
From Valve's FAQ:
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.Q. When do I need to complete this questionnaire by?
A. You can complete the questionnaire at any time. Games without a German age rating will be hidden from customers in Germany starting November 15, 2024.
Q. If I fill out the questionnaire, is my game guaranteed to remain available in Germany?
A. No. There are certain kinds of content that are not allowed for sale to customers in Germany. If present in your game, this content must be disclosed in the content questionnaire. Please complete the questionnaire completely and truthfully. Steam will automatically generate an appropriate rating for your game in Germany. If the generated rating allows, your game will automatically become visible to customers in Germany.
Q. What if my game has a USK rating?
A. If your game has been issued an age rating by going through the rating process directly with USK, you may also enter that information within the store page editor for your game. This is rare. If you do not have an agreement directly with USK, do not enter a USK rating.
Quoting: kerossinThank god for this. People actually had to look at the game and had to think if a game is appropriate for them, the horror is over!
I know you're being sarcastic, but "people actually had to look at the game" is hardly accurate. In many cases, people would have to play the entire game themselves before they know if it contains inappropriate content, or at best find someone who has (note: most game reviewers never play a game in its entirety). Not everything contained in a game is written on the back of the metaphorical box.
Which is exactly what this requirement does - forces game companies to provide a "back of the box" summary of potentially problematic content, so that people can be informed about what they'll be getting before they get it.
Quoting: EikeQuoting: tuubiQuoting: EikeHow about setting all games that are not getting set anything by developers/publishers to 18, the maximum restriction age? Would be far from being unpurchaseable...I suppose that still wouldn't fulfil the requirement of accurately identifying the "kinds of content" that are not legal in Germany. Steam would have to assume that every game contains such content and hide everything by default anyway.
Age restriction and actual illegal content are independent, and to the best of my knowledge (unlike AFAIK the USA?), they do not need to state reasons for the age restriction (like alcohol, drugs, violence, whatever). So I think this would fly.
According to the article, this questionnaire covers both, and the end result is the same. The age rating and content restrictions are two separate things, but both need to be actively confirmed by the seller. If a developer says that their game is appropriate for all ages, and it looks like it's a minimalistic puzzle game that isn't likely to break any laws, there still needs to be a formal disclosure from the devs before Valve is allowed to offer that game to customers in the German market. Just some classic red tape for you.
Man, why can´t we just have Eikes proposal? Auto-Age 18 for nonresponders and thats it.
We are already protected from all the pr0n-games already (as the only country i believe).
Quoting: RomlokIn many cases, people would have to play the entire game themselves before they know if it contains inappropriate contentWhat content, in a game, is simply "inappropriate" universally and for everyone?
The motivation for this appears to be that most games randomly contain nuggets of Objectively Harmful Content that Evil Publishers are trying to mislead the public about. Since we aren't allowed to ban them, we can only force them to disclose on the cover that they Literally Cause Cancer.
In reality, some people don't like some content sometimes. But anyone could dislike anything, with no consistency or reason. There is no way for any work of art to please everybody, and there is no way to predict exactly who will have some objection. The real problem is that some people promote their personal dislikes to a political cause. If they cannot simply ban it, they will apply a stigma to it so that it is effectively boycotted by people who don't actually know anything about it.
Most of us could see how "inappropriate" it is to do this to novels. Why is this kind of political censorship accepted for games?
Last edited by CGull on 2 October 2024 at 1:32 pm UTC
Quoting: CGullWhy is this kind of political censorship accepted for games?
It would be prudent to wait for confirmation on the exact types of prohibited content included in the questionnaire before knee-jerking about censorship. Any developer with a game on Steam should be able to check it out and report back. We've got several here on GOL.
Or someone fluent in German legalese can probably dig out the relevant laws and regulations. After all, that's what Valve has to comply with here.
Quoting: CGullWhat content, in a game, is simply "inappropriate" universally and for everyone?
Don't know where you are from (guess US), but over here in Europe youth protection laws with regard to content are a common thing and not perceived as a bad thing.
As a parent I can say that it is possible "to clear" the content for you 6yo Child, but not for your 13yo teenage daughter. To do that i would need 36 hours in a day.
Quoting: tuubiQuoting: CGullWhy is this kind of political censorship accepted for games?
It would be prudent to wait for confirmation on the exact types of prohibited content included in the questionnaire before knee-jerking about censorship. Any developer with a game on Steam should be able to check it out and report back. We've got several here on GOL.
Or someone fluent in German legalese can probably dig out the relevant laws and regulations. After all, that's what Valve has to comply with here.
My german is okay, but I'm lazy, so here is a link to a bunch of licensed legal professionals giving the answer.
Basically the law is an anti-gambling law.
It actually takes a quite narrow view of gambling.
Edit:
Warning though lootboxes fall under lottery.
So feel free to put sex, violence, drugs, hate, crime, etc. In your game, but if you want to insert gambling mechanics you've to apply for a license.
Last edited by LoudTechie on 2 October 2024 at 3:15 pm UTC
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