Isn't this more of a problem with your country's laws than it is with Steam? Even the GOG version of TW2 had to be censored in some regions until they did some under-the-counter stuff to get around it. You could probably get around the problem you describe by setting your region in Steam to the US or UK, or any other country that doesn't have draconian censorship laws. You can also turn auto-updating off on a per-game basis, if you like, and then presumably apply whatever patch you like manually.

While I share your hatred of Steam, doesn't USK screw console gamers over, too?

Nope, there's no law forbidding ownership of it, and at present no law forbidding purchase of it. It's been placed on List B of the blacklist index, which basically it means that the sale of the game MAY be against the law and needs to be examined by a court. Until that court has ruled, sale of the game is still perfectly legal with appropriate buyer's identification. And even so, any court ruling banning the game does not affect imports for personal use or existing ownership of uncensored versions.

And besides all this, I will not have any company, ANY company tell me what I can have installed on my PC. I'll certainly be taking this to my local Verbraucherschutz, and possibly to my lawyer.

What on Earth...? I don't like Steam either, but isn't this a tad vulgar for a public forum?

If you read any magazines aimed at adults, or any literature not aimed at children, "bad language" is commonplace. I actually find self-censoring, like people writing "f**k this $hit" to be far more offensive and annoying. Well it obviously has something to do with your country since it hasn't happened in other countries. I understand why you're annoyed, but these are obviously measures Valve have taken to avoid being sued in Germany rather than them inflicting their personal desires upon you. And as I said, you can opt out of automatic updates if you like - something worth doing when you have companies like Bethesda making patches that actually introduce more glitches than they fix.

Not necessarily. I don't know how the situation is concerning Sleeping Dogs, but there are very few games that are actually banned in Germany. Most "adult" versions can't be made available to youths under 18. And since Steam doesn't really do age verification, Germans are stuck with the cut versions of all Steamwork titles.

Also, what's so annoying about the situation the OP finds himself in, is that it's a retroactive change to a game he already purchased. Something that GOG for example can't do.

Yep, that's how that one thread became about somebody shifting their pants.

I assume there isn't any kind of user made patch to get the content back to it's original state is there? I also assume using a VPN to see if you could update it back to the original purchased version wouldn't work either. (Though Valve holds the ban-hammer threat over your head for using a VPN.) You can game on PC without having to be tied to Valve. Hell, the site you are posting this message on is an example of that. You will miss out on games, but (thankfully), not everything is steam only.

Well a "retroactive change to a game" is another way of saying "a patch", which is what this is. The problem is the automatic nature of the patch, which can be changed. Not saying this isn't annoying, I'd be pissed off too, but this is a complaint about the content of a patch applied by a program that everyone knows auto-patches games, and can opt out of that service (or "service", if you prefer).

To OP:
To restore the game, trying uninstalling it, and using a VPN to appear to Steam as if you're in, say, the US. Then install the game again and you should get the US version. Then turn off auto-patching, disable the VPN, and only ever manually patch it with the US patches from then on. I used a VPN to get Skyrim about 12 hours early by pretending to be in Australia, so I know it works and still counts as your account.

well get ready to be offended then because gog is probaly going to change the title of this thread

Inb4 our local Steam brigade jumps in and claims that it is the OP's fault anyways.

Well, I don't know if this problem could have been bypassed by disabling auto-patching. That's far from a given.

I'm no expert, but what Steam has done here might very well be illegal.

nope, perfectly legal.

As evidenced by the arbitration clause change where you had to click accept or your games were locked away, I doubt they really care. They know they have a sizable defense force for anything they do, so any complaints just get ignored.