USK / Age-Rating Germany

[Aris]

Since March 2023, German law requires Steam games to have an age rating. Plans are underway to ban all games in Germany that lack such a rating. Developers/Publishers have two options: rate their game through the USK, which costs 1,200€ for new titles, or use Valve's integrated age-rating system.

It seems obvious that 4G won't take any action. So, the question remains whether NGU will simply disappear from the store, or if they'll remove it completely. In the past, when Germany banned games, they only removed them from the store, previously purchased copies were not affected. However, recent incidents, like Sony revoking access to purchased licensed content, leave this outcome uncertain.

This situation affects numerous games released before March 2023 or those that did not utilize any age-rating system. I'm not even sure what to ask, it's just unsettling to be left in such uncertainty.

[Fel]

Age rating has existed for games and movies for a long time without any impact on anything (since it's not a legally binding age anyway).
They were (and apparently still are) relatively costly for small devs without really adding any value which is why it fell out over the years.

Even when it's enforced like tabaco or alcohol it is very easy to get your hands on those way before the legal age anyway.

It's the same in this case, even if the games are hidden for those that connect from germany, a simple vpn would solve it.