Mature content policy with regards to which games need warnings and tags

[Lactose Intolerant Volcano God]

Could someone please link me to the Steam policy about which games require warnings or tags relating to mature context.

The context is there's a game which had unexpected sexual content, and I think other users should be advised before playing it. But I don't want to be a prude if the game already conforms to Steam's policy and doesn't actually require any warnings.

[Kargor]

I don't think it's a Steam policy; these official settings are probably targeted towards various laws around the world.

You didn't give a game name, but I'd generally expect that a game that gets "lowish" ESRB, PEGI, CERO, USK, etc. ratings has no need to get such tags either.

On the other hand, in Germany, stuff is automatically "FSK-18" if it doesn't have an official rating. So yes, if you release a children movie but don't apply for a rating, it will be 18+ -- so that can certainly hit games too. I don't know whether other countries might have similar regulations.

[RSebire]

You’re not being a prude.
If somethings not right, you are allowed to say so.
Thanks for helping the community of normal people here on Steam, if anything.

[Lactose Intolerant Volcano God]

Thanks Kargor. Ah silly me, I just assumed it would be governed by Steam/Valve and there'd be a policy listing the content that requires a "mature content" warning or "NSFW" tag. Thanks for explaining that it's related to international classification laws.

[Lactose Intolerant Volcano God]

Originally posted by RSebire:

You’re not being a prude.
If somethings not right, you are allowed to say so.
Thanks for helping the community of normal people here on Steam, if anything.

Thanks for the support, but I might not be one of the normal people! :-)
I think adult sex is fine in entertainment as long as it's labelled upfront so we can choose whether or not we want to see (or hear) it. I don't like it when sex appears unexpectedly, especially if it's got a misogynistic/incel aftertaste.

[♥♥tutor♥♥tαrα♥♥]

Go to the game's store page, scroll down to the MATURE CONTENT DESCRIPTION (above system requirements). What does it say there?

For example:

MATURE CONTENT DESCRIPTION
The developers describe the content like this:

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt contains strong language, intense violence, blood and gore, as well as nudity and sexual material.

Link to change your Steam Store MATURE CONTENT PREFERENCES: https://store.steampowered.com/account/preferences/

Valve's content policies for games on Steam:

Rules and Guidelines
We have a few guidelines about the content that can be distributed via Steam. Please keep these guidelines in mind when choosing whether to proceed with distribution.

In addition to the items below, content you publish on Steam must comply with the Steam Distribution Agreement, the Steam Subscriber Agreement, Steam Online Conduct guidelines and the Steam Privacy Policy.

What you shouldn’t publish on Steam:

1. Hate speech, i.e. speech that promotes hatred, violence or discrimination against groups of people based on ethnicity, religion, gender, age, disability or sexual orientation
   
2. Nude or sexually explicit images of real people
   
3. Adult content that isn’t appropriately labeled and age-gated
   
4. Libelous or defamatory statements
   
5. Content you don’t own or have adequate rights to
   
6. Content that violates the laws of any jurisdiction in which it will be available
   
7. Content that is patently offensive or intended to shock or disgust viewers
   
8. Content that exploits children in any way
   
9. Applications that modify customer’s computers in unexpected or harmful ways, such as malware or viruses
   
10. Applications that fraudulently attempts to gather sensitive information, such as Steam credentials or financial data (e.g. credit card information)
    
11. Video content not directly related to a product that has shipped on Steam.
    
12. Non-interactive 360 VR Videos
    
13. Applications built on blockchain technology that issue or allow exchange of cryptocurrencies or NFTs.

https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/gettingstarted/onboarding#5

Please Review Your Game’s Mature Content Survey

Steamworks Development Announcement    Feb 28, 2023

Please Review Your Game’s Mature Content Survey 

We've just released an update to the Steam Mature Content Survey and pre-release review process. This update combines two previously separate content disclosure questionnaires into one, adds a few...

Content Survey

Overview
Before submitting your store page and product build for review, you'll need to complete a Content Survey. Your survey answers will help us review your product prior to release, and will also be used to help customers understand how the content in your product matches with their expectations and account preferences.

Once you've completed the Content Survey and submitted your product for review, our team will compare the answers relative to the content in your build and on your store page.

Content Survey Sections
The content survey contains three primary sections that all must be completed prior to submitting the game to the Review Process

1) General Content
The first part of the content survey includes a range of topics that may be present in your game.

Finishing this section will generate ratings for several regional rating boards that can then be used on your store page. This data may also be used to generate additional regional ratings in the future.

If you already have ratings issued for your game directly by official rating board authorities, you may enter those under your game's Ratings section.

2) Mature Content
The second part of the survey requires disclosure of any mature content that players may encounter.

The information provided here will determine how your game appears relative to each customer's preferences. Because mature content such as depictions of violence and sex can be sensitive in nature, it is important that you make honest and accurate disclosures.

You must disclose all the adult content you've uploaded in your builds, even if it's not accessible or presented in your product.

3) Generative Artificial Intelligence Content
...

https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/gettingstarted/contentsurvey

If you think that the game has "Adult content that isn’t appropriately labeled and age-gated" you can report the game by clicking the flag on its Steam Store page, next to the Share and Embed buttons on the right side of the page.

[RSebire]

Hey, you actually found out how to do so..
Kudos to the person above.
That’s some in detail stuff

[Hammer Of Evil]

if a game is improperly tagged, or improperly labeled, report it.

its one thing if a user knowingly disables their NSFW filter, its another if the game is evading the filter on purpose.