Any German gamer would probably respond to that with "what's a paladin?" :-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unterhaltungssoftware_Selbstkontrolle

In short, every game that is to be sold in open retail must have a USK rating. Not having one means that the game is effectively rated 18. The USK certification also provides it with the legal security that it cannot be blacklisted. If it is blacklisted on list A, then it can still be bought and sold within Germany but not openly marketed in places where under-18s could read about it or see it. If it is blacklisted on list B, the same applies but with the added risk that it may be confiscated by a court.

If it gets confiscated, the continued ownership is still legal, as is import for private, personal purposes.

What is the USK? (Unterhaltssoftware Selbstkontrolle)

USK is the German abbreviation for the Entertainment Software Self-Regulation Body, established by the computer games industry to act as the organisation responsible for the classification of computer games in Germany. The USK has conducted around 30,000 classification procedures since being established in 1994. It employs eight permanent staff at its Head Office in Berlin as well as engaging the services of six voluntary game testers and over 50 child protection experts. The USK archive extends to more than 17,000 titles and is one of the largest computer and video game archives in the world.

The German Entertainment Software Self-Regulation Body (USK) is owned by the company “Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Unterhaltungssoftware GmbH”. Being a non-profit limited company, the shareholders are the branch associations of the games development, manufacture and distribution industry in Germany (the Federal Association of Interactive Entertainment Software, BIU, and the Federal Association of Computer Game Developers, G.A.M.E.). Although these shareholders bear the economic risk of the limited company, they are not responsible for the age rating classification procedures.

The USK has been in operation for more than 15 years and is one of the major institutions for the protection of children and young persons in the field of computer and video games. Games have now become an integral part of our everyday culture. Playing games takes place alone, with family and friends or online together with other players. Girls, boys, young persons and adults all participate. Games offer plenty of entertainment as well as providing at least as many opportunities for learning. As is the case with any other medium, however, computer games also bring inherent risks and dangers in their wake.

The USK organises a classification procedure via which the relevant state authorities issue age rating symbols for games. This system ensures that computer games are only sold to children and young persons if the contents of the games have been approved for their age group. Age categorisations are based on the provisions of the law relating to the protection of young persons and not on the degree of difficulty of a game. The principles of the USK are acknowledged by an Advisory Council and updated if required.

You cannot opt out of auto-patching IIRC. You can delay it, but eventually the game will require an online connection to re-authenticate, and at that point it will be autopatched. You may still be able to revert to a previous version via cache magic (as long as you _do_ have it in the cache), but I'm pretty certain that trying to paint offline mode as an opt-out option wouldn't fly in court either.

Regarding the "Germany" thing - the problem is that the very same thing can happen to everybody else. The problem is not that the German law has issues with censorship of games, the problem is that Steam, by design, has the power to change your product to one that you regard as inferior, and that is seems quite eager to use that feature.

DOUBLE HIYOOOOOOOO

HIYOOOOOOOO

This is not correct. The Publishers themself do make the cuts to get a rating less than 18+.
And I don't really get it why the publishers still do it. If a game is developed to target adults, what is the problem with a 18+ rating? The adults interested in the game know that the good stuff is behind the sellers desks (just ask for it).

Then isn't the problem that an 18+ rating is seen as something to avoid at almost any cost in Germany? Here in the UK, loads of triple-A games are 18+. In fact, pretty much every game I have is 12+, 15+ or 18+, and not as a recommendation, as a law. Resident Evil is usually 18+ and that doesn't hurt its sales or lead to a censored version. Even something as innocuous as Mass Effect 3 is a 15+ by law.

Well, it's strange, but I've read an article in a magazine, that it's proven that games with 12+ and 16+ ratings are selling much better than 18+ games, especally shooters.

Also, don't try to say it doesn't have anything with your legislation, because you are the only country in Europe that gets censored games.

I think that in the US, if a game has the highest certification, R or whatever, that most shops won't stock it. There could be something like that in Germany. The difference is that American censorship doesn't have much of a problem with violence at all (but show some cleavage on the cover and that shit's getting airbrushed!)

Depends on the game. Generally speaking, Inherently 12 and 16-rated games sell better because the games are generally better. That being said, Call of Duty consistently sells very well here, and Resi 6, GTA 4, Dishonored et al. all sold very well.

Games that are censored for the purpose of getting a 16 rating end up in the bargain bin pretty quickly.
It's AO-rated games that many mainstream retailers like Walmart and GameStop won't stock in the US. R-rated games are fine. If you want AO-rated games, you need to buy online or go to an independent store.

Might be an age thing. When I was under 18, I bought more top price games than I do now. Just because I had the time (and I knew a guy with a PC Game Shop quite well and got the stuff I wanted *gg*).

Games selling shops can get deep into trouble if they get cought selling a 18+ game to someone aged under 18. This might be the reason why they are selling much worse than restricted 16 titles (that you can buy ages 12 without any problems).

Wouldn't that be kind of difficult, since steam is a gaseous substance? I mean, you wouldn't get any frictio- *shot*

I just want to remember "Giants: Citizen Kabuto" which was censored quite everywhere in the world but not in Germany :)

But OP is right in this case, IMO. Even if they had to censor the game in Germany, it shouldn't affect copies already sold.
Objection! Poland had boobs too!
Also, as far as I remember, this particular censorship was pretty easy to circumvent :P

Okay, but in most of the countries that got the US Version delivered ;)