German version of this FAQ (content differs)

See also:

• Group introduction, English version
• Overview of important threads

Where can I get information regarding censorship?
Our curator offers information for Steam games (list of games). See also following overview lists:

• Steam games regionally unavailable
  
• Steam games censored
  
• Steam's region-/geo-blocking for Germany (Keys/Gifts)
  
• GOG's restrictions for Germany

Our partner Schnittberichte.com is a good place for research. Illustrated Schnittberichte ("cut-reports") document censorship in entertainment media.

Where can I purchase games as a (German) adult?
A list of authorized resellers and their restrictions can be found here.

Steam Gifts from (western) Europe are a good source too, especially because region-locks are not in effect here. Take caution to find a trustworthy trading partner though.

The only way to change the Steam store region to be able to access the offerings in other countries is to be located in the target region and have access to an address from there (Steam support article).

Note: Using VPNs or other technical means to obfuscate one's location might violate Steam's subscriber agreement (SSA) and may result in an account suspension; this might apply to key or gift activation, though in practice it seems not to be enforced.


What determines whether a key/gift activates as a cut or uncut version?
The product license which the key is tied to. It does not matter which IP address one has when activating it. Travelling to another country or changing store region also does not affect existing licenses.

Is it possible to determine which license a key grants without activating it?
No. The only options could be if Steam's support or the seller are cooperative.

Could my already activated uncut version be transformed into a cut version?
In theory possible, practically very unlikely.
Bundles containing cut versions might overwrite already activated uncut licenses. This depends on the game in question.

Is it possible to verify my age to the Steam support to be able to purchase uncensored games in the German store or to have my censored game changed into an uncensored version?
No.

However, it has proven to be successful in some cases to ask the Steam Support to turn already owned licenses of censored versions into uncensored ones if the game in question is nowadays regularly sold uncensored in the German store region (e.g. Team Fortress 2, Resident Evil 4).


What is SteamDB?
SteamDB[steamdb.info] is not affiliated with Valve or Steam. Using Steam's network, the operators make information of products offered on Steam transparent, which is a great asset for our purposes.

Note: One has to log onto the site to be able to fully utilize the search function (searching for so-called keys, for clarity in the following referred to as "tags").

What is a geo/region-lock (PurchaseRestrictedCountries)?
In the group and in our Steam curator the term region-lock usually refers to restricting the activation of product keys. This blocking is realized with the tags AllowPurchaseFromRestrictedCountries (contains the value "No" or "Yes") and PurchaseRestrictedCountries (with country codes)[en.wikipedia.org] It used to be that keys blocked via these tags could simply not be activated within IP addresses associated with the set countries, however, it seems that nowadays only the store region set in the account is of relevance.

Take note of the billingtype: For our purposes the most relevant are: "Store", "CD Key", and "Store or CD Key". The package, meaning the product license, is accordingly either available via the store and/or as a key.

A special case is the tag "RequiresPreApproval" which also causes a region-lock. It is only used in very few cases.

Attention: Steam gifts are excluded from region-locks, meaning they can still be activated. However, gifts from countries with over 10% of a price difference might be blocked additionally. The "AllowCrossRegionTradingAndGifting" tag has no effect except for price reduced regions like Russia, China, or Brazil.

What is prohibitrunincountries?
This tag encompasses an activation block of keys and gifts, and a start and download block with certain IP addresses. Steam checks the IP address each time the client is launched.

Whitelists, the activation and usage restricted to certain countries, exist through the onlyallowrunincountries tag. Gifts from cheaper priced regions like Russia, China, or Brazil have whitelists set by default.

It appears that start and download restrictions are no longer effective 90 days after activation (see here).

A special version of a black or white list can be achieved with the combination of Releasestate, ReleaseStateOverrideCountries and Releasestateoverrideinverse, settings games to unreleased in certain regions which prevents downloading and starting.

Do these blocks affect Family Sharing?

Can region-restricted content be shared across regions?
No, any region restrictions will remain in place when lending or borrowing content.

Family Sharing FAQ (not tested)


How can I determine which version a game is?
If you already own the product, it is best to use the Steam Console. Select a shortcut to the steam.exe and attach to the target line the parameter -console (e.g. "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steam.exe" -console). With the next start of Steam you have a fifth tab. There enter the command licenses_for_app followed by the AppID (which can be found with the help of SteamDB or simply the store page’s URL).

Alternatively, you can go to the license overview and guesstimate the license of the game.

Example of a console output:
The packageID shows which license is owned. This license can be viewed on SteamDB. Often it is already possible to determine by the name whether it is a cut or uncut version. In this case here it is "Resident Evil WW Digital Distribution"; "WW" means worldwide and suggests an uncut version. "RoW" (Rest of World) also suggests such and "DE" (Deutschland, Germany) might hint at a censored version; however, not all packages that have "DE" as a title suffix contain a censored version. In addition, the depots (the game’s content) offer insight when examined and compared: A low violence (short "LV") depot points to a censored version, or depots for language options could be missing.

A special case, which is mostly used in Valve games, is the ViolenceRestrictedCountries tag ("Active - Low Violence" as state in console output). This is only in effect with store purchases and results in a censored version delivered to the set countries, even though technically only one package exists for all users. Uncut keys still activate an uncut version.

Games can be censored with certain language and/or operating system settings. The only option here is to change those.

How can I view the product selection of other countries and how can I see which license is sold?
Other stores can be accessed by using an external browser and attaching "?cc=XX" to the URL. "XX" stands for the ISO code of the respective country, e.g. "DE", "AT", "CH", "UK", "US" etc. Do not be logged in your account or a redirect to the store region pre-set in your account occurs, and attach "?cc" again after every step. The age gates might cause trouble by failing to redirect properly; this can be solved by completing the age gate of any game regularly available in the default region, so a cookie is being set.

The license/packageID sold in the accessed store region can be viewed in an external browser with a mouseover on the purchase button (e.g. javascript:addToCart(54029)).

How can I delete a game from my account?

1. Select game in library
   
2. Click on the right-hand side under "Links" on "Support"
   
3. "I want to permanently remove this game from my account"

Note: Some uncut versions can be activated despite an already activated censored version, which is then directly replaced. In general, however, one has to and should, especially if the undesired cut version is replaced by a bundle containing the uncut version, delete the undesired version from the account first as otherwise the activation might be rejected ("game already owned") or the cut version is not properly replaced.

• It is possible to search the whole forum in the group by deselecting the sub forum one is located in (green button).
  
• Abbreviations in package names: WW = worldwide; RoW = Rest of World; EFIS = England, France, Italy, Spain; CIS = Commonwealth of Independent States (certain successor states of the USSR); 3P = Third Party; LV = Low Violence (censored version).
  
• RSS feeds for announcements/articles:
  • Steam group: https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/groups/foruncut/rss