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MikuHatsune 10 hours ago
Age verification implemented for UK but unable to comply to offer such system for Germany?
Well no matter how bad that UK age verification thing is, that's not the topic here, i just find it funny back in 2020 when Germany required Steam to implement Age verification, Valve basically said "no, go f yourself" and instead unlisted all the Adult Only games from Steam for german users.
Now for UK they suddenly turn a 180 and implement such a system but only for UK users. So why not for German users?
Since 5 years now basically all games not rated by the USK are unlisted for german users and even some which are rated but tagged with "Adult Only". This issue is still ongoing.

I'd actually like to verify my age on this platform just to be finally able to browse through the store without restriction again.
It's not even just you not being able to search and buy Adult Only games but also even if you own such kind of games, you're unable to view the Steam page for the game even though you actually own it in your game library.

I still have my way to obtain games on steam with extra steps which requires help by other individuals on this platform but it just feels like being overly complicated and not consumer friendly at all.
Last edited by MikuHatsune; 10 hours ago
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Showing 1-6 of 6 comments
Kyrus86 10 hours ago 
For the German government a credit card check isn't enough. Therefore UK has age verification and Germany doesn't.
#1
Macro 10 hours ago 
Honestly, the UK system and Steam’s solution are a disaster. As an adult, I’m actually glad it doesn’t exist in this form here. The whole credit card requirement is a pain and more of a shot in the foot.

The situation in Germany isn’t really a good solution either:

it’s more like cutting off your leg just because you stubbed your toe. Do you really want to bring this mess here to make things worse?
Last edited by Macro; 10 hours ago
#2
rawWwRrr 6 hours ago 
Originally posted by MikuHatsune:
i just find it funny back in 2020 when Germany required Steam to implement Age verification, Valve basically said "no, go f yourself" and instead unlisted all the Adult Only games from Steam for german users.
Valve didn't so much tell Germany to eff off as much as they didn't want to implement the method Germany would allow. Valve is very adverse to maintaining a database of personal information beyond what is necessary for billing purposes. It seems like Germany's only acceptable methods would require Valve to store information it is not willing to, while the UK's credit card verification process is something Valve is already doing. If that method wasn't accepted, UK users would be sharing the same pain that Germany is right now.

Originally posted by MikuHatsune:
Now for UK they suddenly turn a 180 and implement such a system but only for UK users. So why not for German users?
As stated, the allowable methods in which to verify someone's age. UK recognizes credit card verification as effective while Germany does not.

Originally posted by MikuHatsune:
Since 5 years now basically all games not rated by the USK are unlisted for german users and even some which are rated but tagged with "Adult Only". This issue is still ongoing.
Valve offers to act as a rating agency on behalf of those games that did not have agency provided ratings so that their games could be listed for sale in Germany. As you might have guessed, many either ignored it or didn't bother.

Originally posted by MikuHatsune:
I still have my way to obtain games on steam with extra steps which requires help by other individuals on this platform but it just feels like being overly complicated and not consumer friendly at all.
Nanny laws are about consumer control, not consumer friendliness. The motives might have some merit but the end results are usually over zealous and affect more people than they are intending to help.
Last edited by rawWwRrr; 6 hours ago
#3
Wolfpig 6 hours ago 
Originally posted by rawWwRrr:
It seems like Germany's only acceptable methods would require Valve to store information it is not willing to,


Valve would not have to store any information at all, as they only need to check the online ID (which btw. which is already in use or will be used in all EU Countries) to verify that it is the person and that the age is correct.

The real reason why valve is not doing that is that they would need to invest money to implement that stuff.
#4
WolfEisberg 6 hours ago 
Originally posted by rawWwRrr:
Originally posted by MikuHatsune:
i just find it funny back in 2020 when Germany required Steam to implement Age verification, Valve basically said "no, go f yourself" and instead unlisted all the Adult Only games from Steam for german users.
Valve didn't so much tell Germany to eff off as much as they didn't want to implement the method Germany would allow. Valve is very adverse to maintaining a database of personal information beyond what is necessary for billing purposes. It seems like Germany's only acceptable methods would require Valve to store information it is not willing to, while the UK's credit card verification process is something Valve is already doing. If that method wasn't accepted, UK users would be sharing the same pain that Germany is right now.

Originally posted by MikuHatsune:
Now for UK they suddenly turn a 180 and implement such a system but only for UK users. So why not for German users?
As stated, the allowable methods in which to verify someone's age. UK recognizes credit card verification as effective while Germany does not.

Originally posted by MikuHatsune:
Since 5 years now basically all games not rated by the USK are unlisted for german users and even some which are rated but tagged with "Adult Only". This issue is still ongoing.
Valve offers to act as a rating agency on behalf of those games that did not have agency provided ratings so that their games could be listed for sale in Germany. As you might have guessed, many either ignored it or didn't bother.

Originally posted by MikuHatsune:
I still have my way to obtain games on steam with extra steps which requires help by other individuals on this platform but it just feels like being overly complicated and not consumer friendly at all.
Nanny laws are about consumer control, not consumer friendliness. The motives might have some merit but the end results are usually over zealous and affect more people than they are intending to help.

I have seen many other German players say Germany has a system in place that would allow age verification without Steam needing to store user data at all, the verification happens off-site and Steam would be given a response of the person being verified.

So it's really about Valve not wanting to do anything more than the bare minimum. Since they accept credit cards already it was practically very little work to use credit card as verification.
#5
Macro 5 hours ago 
Originally posted by Wolfpig:
Originally posted by rawWwRrr:
It seems like Germany's only acceptable methods would require Valve to store information it is not willing to,


Valve would not have to store any information at all, as they only need to check the online ID (which btw. which is already in use or will be used in all EU Countries) to verify that it is the person and that the age is correct.

The real reason why valve is not doing that is that they would need to invest money to implement that stuff.
I also guess that's the main reason. Since digital age verification already exists here and is also practically used and available for private companies, but every country uses its own, and there isn't a global standard yet, Steam needed to invest a lot of money. Also, the thing is a bit more complex for Germany; several developers didn't respond to the German USK and Steam and did not get an age rating, so they did get delisted.
#6
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Date Posted: 6 Sep @ 6:22am
Posts: 6
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