I wanted to do this writeup for some time, but didn’t had the time/was to lazy to do it. Until the question came up in a game of Rainbow Six.: Veagas, about the banning of The Darkness in Germany.

„Why are the germans so crazy about violence in videogames?“

So I’m going to try to explain the whole thing, and how the rating system works in germany, in this article.

Well the first thing everyone in the englich speaking world thinks is, we are rigorous about violence because we lost the war. Well there is actually a bit more to that. It’s like the problem americans have with boobs and cursing.

To be honest, I don’t exactly know why we (as a country) are so pissed about violence, but I can list a number of reasons that support our angst about it. (But yes, we are probably very sensitive about violence, because of the whole holocaust thing.)

First of all, we have the media jumping on the whole „the games made him do it“ thing, whenever a kid shoots up a school or whatnot. It’s basically the same in every country that the media loves to do this, but over here, they do it in a very bad manner. I mean really bad. I can’t remember how many times they blamed Counter Strike. It’s the ultimate reason that causes violence in kids, according to the mass media.

„One reason, Counter Strike. You get more points if you kill innocent bystanders. Schoolgirls are worth the most.“

The politics are a bigger problem than the games at there own. You see, we have social issues in germany. Pretty, bad issues. And instead of addressing these issues, they use videogames as a scapegoat. Instead of taking care of our rotten school system, which produces stealing, good
for nothing thugs, who have no expectations in life, or instead of finding a solution for the haywire healtcare system, they blame videogames for everything



Every survey about the subject is used to circumstantiate the „fact“ that violence in games is made by the devil and that it’s the reason for our rotten youth. This has gone so far that some politicians want that the production of violent videogames is going to be illigal in germany. And of course, not one of them ever played one single video game in their lives.

Also, one of the first things that were accomplished after the last killing spree, was that a new term for violent video games was formulated. We had the word murder-simulation-games before, but that was just to fucking long to understand for you average joe. So a better, shorter one was devised: killer games. It’s a good word, because nowhere is written down what the exact meaning is, or what exactly qualifies a game as a killer game.
Like is Rainbow Six: Vegas a killer game? Well you have the killing, but you do it as a special forces guy. So you kill in the name of good. So you are not a killer, you are a hero! But it’s still considered a killer game over here... Or what about the good old Cowboy and Indians games we all played as kids? Aren’t those about killing people too?

Okay, enough of that for now, let me explain the system that is used to rate games over here. But be warned, it’s a rather complex matter.

We basically have two organisations who grade games, the USK (Unterhaltungsoftware Selbstkontrolle = German Voluntary Monitoring Organisation of Entertainment Software) and the BPjM ( Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien = Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons). So the one is a corporate organisation, the other one is federal. One of the problems in that system is that the jurisdictions are not 100% clear. In case of games, the fist rating of any of the two organisation counts. The other one can’t revise the rating, whether it’s in favor of the titel or against it doesn’t matter.

The USK was foundet in 1994 and has since gradet more then 17.600 games. Before the law for he protection of the youth was changed in 2003, their ratings where only references. But since 2003 they are binding. The consultants who rate the games got to have experiences e. g. as Journalists, pedagogues or socialscientists and have to be intependent and not employed by the games industry.


They have 5 different ratings:



(from left to right)

- without age restrictions
- restricted for those below the age of 6
- restricted for those below the age of 12
- restricted for those below the age of 16
- restricted for those below the age of 18

Besides from that, the USK can deny a rating, like if the game is too violent or glorifies war, in which case a banning by the BPjM is likely. The USK themselves can’t ban a game. Any game that’s not rated gets handeled like a „ restricted for those below the age of 18“ title.

So, as you can see, it’s more simple then the american rating system, but you don’t get as much information.



The BPjM rates games too, but only after someone filed a complaint about a game. They have the right to ban games, as they rate all kind of media (music, books, movies, magazines, comics and games). The reasons for banning media can range from violence to illegal content. For example, every book about producing drugs or growing weed is illegal in germany.

So what if a game is banned? Well the game goes on the Index, which is basically a list of media which is banned. Media on the index is not allowed for sale to persons below the age of 18. Also any advertising, in media that is accessible to persons below the age of 18 for it is illegal. Same goes for import and export, for persons under the age of 18. And it’s legal to sell them under the counter in stores, but (you guessed it) only to persons over the age of 18.

Well, basically if you are underaged and want a banned game, it’s not a big deal to get them. Just ask a older friend to import them for you. This leads to a problem with the BPjM, which is that their actions are not really effective. Because anyone can import games from other countries in the EU, since the customs only check packages from outside the EU. Plus, something that is banned gets more interresting. Which leads to some (stupid) kids who consider the Index as a shopping list for games.

So, how can a game get banned, you ask?. Simple, the USK denies the game a rating, which in most cases causes the publisher not to release it. But someone bitches about it, so it gets rated by the BPjM, which usually leads to a ban.

But banning isn’t the worst thin that can happen to a game. If putting a game on the Index isn’t enough, the police can confiscate it, which makes it illegal alltogether. Which usually happes to games with nazi thematics, that are extremely xenophobic, or very, very, very violent. Manhunt I’m looking at you.


Initally I wanted to list all games that are on the Index, but instead I will list some recent ones and the reason why they were banned.

- Crackdown; unecessary violence against innocent
- Gears of War; too much graphical violence, chainsaw
- Command & Conquer: Generals (US-version); suicide attackers
- Dead Rising; too much graphical violence, chainsaw
- Condemmed; too much graphical violence
- Far Cry (US-version) Rag Doll physics
- F.E.A.R. (US-version); too much graphical violence

The games that had their US-version banned, got edited, to make more money release them here, like changing the blood to a different colour. That’s what happened with The Darkness. They edited all the blood and the heart eating thing out of the game. The animations are still the same, but all the blood is gone. So if you can live without the blood it’s okay.
And there are countless other examples fort his censorchip. Like the fact that in Command & Conquer 1 the dialogue and animation was changed, so that the soldiers where cyborgs. The 4 minute long scene in Quake 4 where you get changed into a Stoog got cut down to 1 minute. Pedestrians don’t drop money in GTA. Counteless other games had the bloodcolour changed or the blood removed alrogether, like in Bioshock, or Tomb Raider. I chould go on with this for hours...

To bring this article to an end, I’m gonna give you a „what to do if you want your game to be banned in germany“ checklist. So here we go:
First of all put in a lot of unnecessary violence in it (Crackdown). A lot of innocent bystanders are always good (Crackdown again). Individual hitzones are also good (Soldier of Fortune). Oh and chainsaws, chansaws are a shurefire way to get a game banned in germany (Gears of War). And how chould I forget swastikas. One Is enough, but feel free to put in more (Wolfenstein 3D). Or any other Nazi reference.

Got that? K, have fun with it.

I hope this article helped you to understand the situation over here. And stop bitching, that they banned one game. You are lucky!