Why is this aviable in germany?

[Migel]

I was REALLY surprised to see this game pop up on Steam. It's not being sold in germany and usually all Steam keys are region locked, store pages inaccessible. How did this get here?

Is this a glitch in Steam's store system or was there a policy change in the USK?

[Rayn Keiko]

there is google but if u speak german -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b2zXYenxes

[Plankton]

that's weird, why will it not let you buy it?

[Migel]

Originally posted by Scorpion:

that's weird, why will it not let you buy it?

If I'd have to guess, Id say it has to do with the age rating and level of violence in the game. We have an independent rating agency and there's some situations in which they ban games from being sold for various reasons. Mainly and understandably they crack down on stuff related to national socialism but occasionally they branch out and put out bans or cut content on violent or controversial games. Its not very transparent although Im sure you can look up the reasons somewhere.

[Overseer]

It wasn't banned. Just on list A. No Geolock was in place.
Now since zombies are no longer considered human beings but a swam type of enemy things have changed with the ratings and a new review allowed for an USK18.

[Migel]

Originally posted by Overseer:

It wasn't banned. Just on list A. No Geolock was in place.
Now since zombies are no longer considered human beings but a swam type of enemy things have changed with the ratings and a new review allowed for an USK18.

Hm. Makes sense, but I think when I tried to get keys a few years back on third party websites, they warned of a region lock excluding germany. The german store page was also unaviable.
I managed to grab a key for Dying Light that wasn't region locked on the same website, which is why I have the game already, but with this change of policy, wouldn't that also mean that Dying Light should soon be aviable to the germany community?

[Overseer]

Websites are lazy and often have no idea. So all you get is some warning.
Also publishers can decide if they want to release a game in certain countries here on steam. That has nothing to do with ratings. But when a game lands on the Index in germany they are not allowed to advertise it, so not having it in the steam store is one way. Its complex. Because Steam could have a legally binding 18+ system but they don't.
Very few games are actually blocked from running on german steam. Uncensored Wolfenstein is one of them.
And yes selling Dead Island in open german stores is now no problem (but they are still not allowed to sell it to people under 18).

[Meddy83]

Dead Island wurde im Januar 2019 vom Index gestrichen, dann im März 2019 folgte die USK-18 Freigabe und nun darf es offiziell in Deutschland verkauft werden.

In den Konsolen Download Store's (Xbox/PS4) wird es auch bald freigeschaltet. Am 07.06.19 kommt dann die Konsolen Version in den Handel (z.B. Media Markt, Saturn usw)

[NinetyFourMillionCats]

Try G2A, thats where I got my copy for 10 buckaroos

[Cdr.Keen]

Back in 2012 i bought the retail of the game (german version) and it worked. After that i bought the retail of Rip Tide (also german version) and it also worked.

It ever worked. No region lock, no prohibition - just no steam store page because it was on list A, thats all.

[Skidrow]

For Americans & Friends, who got no clue, what this guys here talking about:

Index, Indizierung, List A and so on.... in Germany there is something like a counterpart to the "Adults Only" (AO) classification, that also results in a public advertising ban.
But there are no "real" bans for media in Germany, so it's always allowed for adults to buy, own and use the stuff... no matter what classification (or none). But because a product page of an indexed video game is in fact public advertising, Valve can't offer this games directly on the German Steam store (they could if they would implement an age verification system).

This "AO" classification (Indizierung) was lifted this year. Now Dead Island is rated "M" (USK18) in Germany.

[Nellvan]

Originally posted by Migel the Sloth:

with this change of policy, wouldn't that also mean that Dying Light should soon be aviable to the germany community?

Seems like it indeed is available by now. It shows up when I search for it and there is a "buy" button.

I guess I spoke too soon. It's not the game but the Anniversary Bundle (only the DLC) and I can add it to the shopping cart. But when I click on any of the individual DLC those all show up as "not available in your country". So yeah, no idea what's going on exactly. Might just need some more time sorting things out.

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/10207/Dying_Light_Anniversary_Bundle/

[steelrat]

Ihr könnt Dying Light schon lange auf Gamesplanet.de offiziell kaufen und die Keys lassen sich ohne Probleme aktivieren.

Techland hat wohl nie dass Spiel offiziell in Deutschland zur Prüfung vorgelegt. Daraufhin konnte es in Deutschland nicht auf Steam verkauft werden.
Die Jungs und Mädels von Gamesplanet haben dann einen Deal mit Techland ausgehandelt und es konnte bei ihnen offiziell gekauft werden quasie seit dem Release.
Dort habe ich auch meine Fassung gekauft und später noch den Season Pass.

https://de.gamesplanet.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=Dying+light

[Moriendor]

Several people here mentioned USK 18 or an age requirement of 18. Then why is Dead Island Definitive Edition a USK 16 game? Did they cut the game for Germany? Are they selling an altered version to German customers without the usual "low violence" notice?

[Skidrow]

Originally posted by Moriendor:

Several people here mentioned USK 18 or an age requirement of 18. Then why is Dead Island Definitive Edition a USK 16 game? Did they cut the game for Germany? Are they selling an altered version to German customers without the usual "low violence" notice?

What are you talking about? Dead Island Definitive Edition is not rated USK16. It's rated USK18.
Dead Island was always classified as "18+" in Germany. But meanwhile the advertising ban (Indizierung) was lifted. There isn't and there was never a cut-version.

[Dark]

How about the Dying Light stuff? Saw that one but only the DLC as accesible @steelrat