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.
Oh wow. The next punishment for customers in Germany.
And they still do not bother implementing a mechanism to verify your age as a customer…
Yeah, lets force ppl to send personal documents just to be able to play vidya...said no one ever
Sarcasm aside it would be a logistical and costly nightmare, not to mention a potential GPDR nightmare if a data breach ever happens so thanks but no thanks
Sarcasm aside it would be a logistical and costly nightmare, not to mention a potential GPDR nightmare if a data breach ever happens so thanks but no thanksPostident would be a possibility that involves an external party, so the logistics are already in place and have been for many years. If the choice is having to fake a trip abroad (which is against the rules and might get your account locked) it might be preferable than not being able to buy things.
I still think Postident shouldn't be even necessary. Every voucher you buy gets activated by the cashier when you buy it. The system that transfers the activation info can do a lot more, like sending back form data of all kinds. There's a standardized system behind it that does all kinds of things from simple activation over choosing options to complete id transmission for things like smart simcards.Sarcasm aside it would be a logistical and costly nightmare, not to mention a potential GPDR nightmare if a data breach ever happens so thanks but no thanksPostident would be a possibility that involves an external party, so the logistics are already in place and have been for many years. If the choice is having to fake a trip abroad (which is against the rules and might get your account locked) it might be preferable than not being able to buy things.
Valve could clearly use that system to bind an optional age verification. Or they sell dedicated 18+ cards, nothing really special about it. So if you want to play some gore shooter, you go buy a 5€ voucher, tell the clerk you want to verify your age, he will check your age and press a button. Valve would know nothing new about you, other then your age >18...
Last edited by const on 14 October 2024 at 9:17 pm UTC
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me