Starting on November 15, 2024 @Steam will no longer display games to customers in Germany if the game is missing a valid age rating.
https://x.com/SteamDB/status/1841374449318220159Open linkView original on sh.itjust.works
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13 replies
Requiring new releases to provide this information going forward makes sense. But I expect a lot of older titles have no one actively paying attention to go get this paperwork filled out, and will get blocked as a result. This law should've just applied to everything new released after the law takes effect, grandfathering in legacy content.
If nobody is paying attention, then nobody will care about not getting paid. It may sound disappointing, but I'm sure a German who wants something specific can find ways to get to it.
Older titles should be restricted to +18 by default, at least they would stay purchasable.
Don't know if they can legally pretend it has a rating though
You are probably right but there has to be some kind of path forward baked into the regulations.
It will be a bit of a farce if retro gaming becomes illegal because no one submits the paperwork for 8-bit consoles.
Man, the Germans have a history of taking L's.
Is there a list (ideally sorted by rating) with affected games?
Considering a lot of games on steam don't have a rating at all, it's probably going to affect damn near everything but AAA games, honestly
No it fortunatly doesn't. The games don't need an USK (official german) rating. Steam seems to have it's own rating system which seems to be enough
Ah, ok, that's not so bad then? Still pretty annoying though
Why only Germany? Adult games on Steam are pretty much porn.
Because no one else is requiring some shitty rating system?
All adult games on Steam are banned already in Germany + those on The Index.