Germany bans hundreds of Steam games due to missing age rating

[OPV]

German citizens are unable to buy a bunch of old school games (and more recent ones) of steam now, because a bunch of developers will either: 1. not hear about this, 2. not make the effort to patch it after ages of it being released or 3. in the worst case the developers might not even be around anymore. Talk about game preservation...

Common sense among politicians is extremly rare I suppose - not even the digital world can be left unscathed by that.

[T9]

Watch less Tiktok and blame the correct people.

The steps to get a GO are simple it's laughable

[Ogami]

None of those games are "banned" they are just not available on the German Steam Store because of the missing age rating.
This was also not done by Germany but by Steam. Steam also informed developers and publishers nearly a year ago to set the age rating on the store page for their game if it did not have one yet.
So in the end this is on the publishers/developers just not caring about it enough to go through this 5 minute process in the span of a year.

It also only affects games before 2018 since all games since then need an age rating to be published in the first place.
So even as a German Steam user, i dont really care. Its all old stuff i already own for years or cheap shovelware that i dont want in the first place.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[OPV]

Originally posted by Ogami:

None of those games are "banned" they are just not available on the German Steam Store because of the missing age rating.

The meaning of BAN is to prohibit especially by legal means; also : to prohibit the use, performance, or distribution of. By DEFINITION they banned those games until they add the age restriction. What is this pointless and somewhat uneducated arguing about the meaning of a word?

Originally posted by Ogami:

It also only affects games before 2018 since all games since then need an age rating to be published in the first place.

Misinformation - "Renown" or "Quantum Paradox" are games that haven't even gotten released yet or are still in playtest - which aren't avaible on the steam store anymore, just to name a few...

Originally posted by Ogami:

Its all old stuff i already own for years
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Amazing, I am happy for you. After developing a little bit more thoughtfulness you might realise that his is kind of a problem for everyone else who doesn't own all of these titles already....

[OPV]

Originally posted by T9:

Watch less Tiktok and blame the correct people.

The steps to get a GO are simple it's laughable

By "correct people" you mean the multi million dollar indiviuals sitting in those major companies or congresses, who most likely don't give a fck about the opinion of a couple individuals without any power? When somebody actually asks the sensitive questions and tries to blame the correct people, usually no one feels adressed - just watch less tik tok and instead politics for once. We do as we're told and they do as they like.

Stop being entitled enough to immediately jump to assumptions and conclusions...

[Eagle_of_Fire]

Originally posted by Ogami:

This was also not done by Germany but by Steam.

Please. Do not try to intentionally misinform people. The government of Germany passed a new law forcing this and that and Valve is simply forced to follow the local regulation. Saying that Steam is responsible in this instance is like saying my car manufacturer is responsible for me speeding somewhere and getting a speed ticket...

[Wolfpig]

Originally posted by Eagle_of_Fire:

Originally posted by Ogami:

This was also not done by Germany but by Steam.

Please. Do not try to intentionally misinform people. The government of Germany passed a new law..

And that law is in effect since 2004........;)

[Ogami]

Originally posted by Wolfpig:

And that law is in effect since 2004........;)

Plus there is also the law that you cant sell USK 18 rated games online without confirming the age of the buyer, something that Steam has already ignored for many years.
So they are very selective if a local law is suddenly important enough to follow.

[Wolfpig]

Originally posted by Ogami:

Originally posted by Wolfpig:

And that law is in effect since 2004........;)

Plus there is also the law that you cant sell USK 18 rated games online without confirming the age of the buyer, something that Steam has already ignored for many years.
So they are very selective if a local law is suddenly important enough to follow.

That has nothing to do with selling stuff online.
Every store has to check the age of the buyer regardless of rating.

If we would be 100% correct valve (and most other online stores) would need age checks for content 16 & up (as 16 is the earliest age one gets/needs his/an id card).

[Nx Machina]

Originally posted by OPV:

German citizens are unable to buy a bunch of old school games (and more recent ones) of steam now, because a bunch of developers will either: 1. not hear about this,

Not hear about this?

Announced on 1st March 2024:

https://store.steampowered.com/news/group/4145017/view/4183351393029705362

Follow up on 14th October 2024.

Steamworks Development Announcement    Oct 14, 2024

Age Ratings Mandatory in German Store Starting November 15 

As you may have heard, German regulators have specified that all games, regardless of when they were first published, must have an age rating in order to be offered to German customers via the Steam...

[DarkCrystalMethod]

Can't they just slap their own estimation of the age rating per game until such time as the devs/publiishers get their act together? Killing a market where the product itself is still good is stupid.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Originally posted by DarkCrystalMethod:

Can't they just slap their own estimation of the age rating per game until such time as the devs/publiishers get their act together? Killing a market where the product itself is still good is stupid.

Unfortunately, no. The rights holder must do this for their titles.

[Wolfpig]

Originally posted by DarkCrystalMethod:

Can't they just slap their own estimation of the age rating per game until such time as the devs/publiishers get their act together? Killing a market where the product itself is still good is stupid.

Funfact: Games without a rating are automatically handled like games which are rated 18 (not openly sold).
Means, if Valve had a proper Age Verification System in Place everyone who is 18+ could still buy those games without any problem.
And that is these days a lot easier to accomplish as 20 years ago, as you now only would need a Smartphone which can use NFC and let it scan your ID with it....(a bit simpliefied, but that is how tit works)

[Brian9824]

Originally posted by Wolfpig:

Originally posted by DarkCrystalMethod:

Can't they just slap their own estimation of the age rating per game until such time as the devs/publiishers get their act together? Killing a market where the product itself is still good is stupid.

Funfact: Games without a rating are automatically handled like games which are rated 18 (not openly sold).
Means, if Valve had a proper Age Verification System in Place everyone who is 18+ could still buy those games without any problem.
And that is these days a lot easier to accomplish as 20 years ago, as you now only would need a Smartphone which can use NFC and let it scan your ID with it....(a bit simpliefied, but that is how tit works)

Another fun fact, if Germany stopped giving China a run for its money in being one of the most restrictive countries in the world this wouldn't be an issue

[Wolfpig]

Originally posted by Brian9824:

Originally posted by Wolfpig:

Funfact: Games without a rating are automatically handled like games which are rated 18 (not openly sold).
Means, if Valve had a proper Age Verification System in Place everyone who is 18+ could still buy those games without any problem.
And that is these days a lot easier to accomplish as 20 years ago, as you now only would need a Smartphone which can use NFC and let it scan your ID with it....(a bit simpliefied, but that is how tit works)

Another fun fact, if Germany stopped giving China a run for its money in being one of the most restrictive countries in the world this wouldn't be an issue

The US is not really better.

Imagine someone would get the attention of the right groups in the US and tells them that this site is selling Sex Games (which could contain homosexuality and Blasphemous themes) to underaged children without checking their age........

[Brian9824]

Originally posted by Wolfpig:

Originally posted by Brian9824:

Another fun fact, if Germany stopped giving China a run for its money in being one of the most restrictive countries in the world this wouldn't be an issue

The US is not really better.

Imagine someone would get the attention of the right groups in the US and tells them that this site is selling Sex Games (which could contain homosexuality and Blasphemous themes) to underaged children without checking their age........

Not even remotely comparable. Germany if they had only targeted adult games would be different. Every adult game on steam is tagged as such and would easily be able to be filtered out. Instead Germany targeted every game including non adult ones in a broad over-reach.

Germany went way overboard hence why so many non adult games were affected.