In March this year, Valve issued an announcement to remind Steam developers to review the adult content questionnaire. The purpose was to comply with the German government’s game content classification policy for age classification (Steam). Now the implementation time has been determined to be implemented in mid-November. If Games without set ratings will not be listed on the German Steam store.
According to the SteamDB reminder, only games that have been rated through Steam’s built-in rating process or the German regulatory agency BZKJ can be sold in Germany. Otherwise, after November 15, 2024, games that have not obtained ratings will not be sold on Steam in Germany.
German regulators have specified that all games must have a rating in order to be sold to customers in Germany.
Starting on November 15, 2024 @Steam will no longer display games to customers in Germany if the game is missing a valid age rating. pic.twitter.com/u9TYGhVqMJ
— SteamDB (@SteamDB) October 2, 2024
On the Steam platform, developers must first indicate the sensitive content in the game so that players can control the types of content they want to see and do not want to see when browsing the Steam store. These are all related to the rating system and content descriptors, and ratings and descriptors It is based on conditions negotiated by regulatory authorities in each country and industry self-regulatory groups.
In fact, in 2020, Steam conducted a sensitive content questionnaire on developers to generate ratings in response to Brazilian policies. In other words, Steam itself will make institutional changes in compliance with the local government’s age policy. Developers in any country must comply with local regulations, especially adult games involving bloody, violent or erotic content.