If you want to offer games to the public on a physical medium in Germany, you can apply for an age rating here and find out about the costs.
General Policies
The German Youth Protection Act (JuSchG) is the legal basis. The USK General Policy Statement regulates the examination procedure. You can find further information on the obligations for content here.
Submission and examination process
How to acquire a rating:
- Submission form: Download the submission form and fill it out. As of January 1, 2023, the USK will only accept applications with a new submission form.
- Information about the object of review: Send us the complete game in terms of content together with the completed and signed submission form and all available and printed materials such as the manual, cover, fact sheet, achievement/trophy list, walkthrough, cheats, etc. For games that contain a multiplayer mode, we need a way to review this mode: Additional versions/accounts, video footage of gameplay, and a detailed description of the MP mode.
- Additional Information on interactive elements and online features: More detailed information and materials on the planned integration and design of interactive elements or online features (e.g., Communication functions, purchase functions, gambling-like mechanisms, location sharing, negative consequences of not playing, push messages), must be provided.
For In-Game Purchases and In-App Purchases: Most of these transactions don’t technically occur “in-game”. Instead, many games redirect users to external storefronts (like the PlayStation Store, Steam, or similar platforms), because the games don’t have their own infrastructure to process purchases. For us and parents, every purchase of content intended for use within a game or app is an In-Game Purchase or In-App Purchase.They don’t need to be linked from the main menu either. What matters is that they include, for example, expansion packs, cosmetics, or downloadable content (DLC) that is specifically intended to be purchased and used within the game or app itself.
The following are considered “In-Game Purchases”:
- Any content you can officially (!) buy for use in the game itself (currencies, resources, skins, weapons, maps, new missions, …)
- Season Passes and Battle Passes
- Regular “add-ons” (e.g. the DLC The Sims 4: Businesses & Hobbies for The Sims 4) which are NOT standalone (those are considered products of their own and not DLC)
- Supporter Packs that contain at least one item that is usable in-game (usually some kind of exclusive skin or bonus currency)
The following are not considered “In-Game Purchases”:
- Digital artbooks
- Soundtracks
- Profile pictures for PlayStation-Network, etc.
- Other full games of the series (for example, Gears of War 1 is not an in-game purchase for Gears of War 2, even if the latter links directly to a storefront to buy it).
- Data format: Please note that the submission form with all documents has to be sent to us in one package simultaneously. If information and game data are transferred digitally (e.g., FTP, Cloud Transfer), the form must be attached to the e-mail. By postal mail, please send the documents to:
USK – Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle gGmbH
Torstr. 6
10119 Berlin
Germany - Confirmation of receipt: As soon we get your application for an examination, you will receive a confirmation email with the reference number. We will contact you immediately if the game cannot be examined because documentation needs to be included or the game needs to be completed.
- Processing time: The game receives a rating within a maximum of seven (ad hoc procedure), twelve (urgent procedure), or twenty (standard procedure) working days. The decisive factor is the date of receipt by the USK. The period begins one working day after receipt of the submission form. Please note the closing times of the USK between Christmas and New Year. The deadlines for the classification procedures are extended accordingly. You can check here the examination dates.
- Examination result: After the title has been reviewed and examined, we will notify the contact person via email, as stated on the submission form. The USK will provide specially generated graphic files (age rating + additional descriptors) for download.
USK age rating requirements
Obligation to use new graphics for USK age rating (game packaging)
New obligations apply to examination results based on submission forms from January 01, 2023, onwards: An additional age rating graphic must be displayed on the back of the game packaging.
- Back of the packaging: After the examination, the USK provides specially generated graphic files (age rating + descriptors) for download in each case. The graphics should be displayed in the lower two-thirds. The size varies, depending on the number of other notices, but comprises a maximum of 42.25mm (width) x 15.61mm (height). In the following cases, no additional descriptors are issued: Age rating “USK ab 0” (Approved without age restrictions) without online features or interactive elements, trade show demos, prototypes, cover discs, and trailers.
- Front labeling: The regulations for the design of the age rating remain unchanged.
- The cover design can be submitted to the USK for approval at test@usk.de.
Regulations for already-rated games
Games submitted before the new regulations under the JuSchG came into force and have already received an age rating do not have to display any descriptors (up to and including USK test number “…/22”) and retain their validity.
However, an obligation to display descriptors in the form described exists if the game has been reviewed again and corresponding descriptors have been issued (including identity checks).
Online, Storefronts & IARC
If USK-rated games are distributed via websites, the existing USK age rating must be displayed (cf. § 12 (2) sentence 4 JuSchG and § 12 Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors in the Media – JMStV). The descriptors provided by the USK must also be displayed. The use of the graphic file supplied by the USK is recommended but not mandatory. Alternatively, the descriptors must be displayed perceptibly and in recognizable spatial proximity to the age rating at the “point of sale” (e.g., product page).
Storefronts that qualify as gaming platforms in the sense of § 14a (1) sentence 2 JuSchG are obliged under § 14a (1) sentences 2 and 3 JuSchG to ensure their responsibility that age rating symbols and associated descriptors are displayed perceptibly. Age ratings issued by the USK, including the associated descriptors, constitute legally compliant age ratings within the meaning of § 14a (1) sentence 2 no. 1 JuSchG. If a USK age rating has been given by the JuSchG, the USK rating must be indicated in the storefronts (cf. § 12 (2) sentence 4 JuSchG and § 12 JMStV). Here too, the use of the graphic file provided by the USK is recommended but not mandatory. Alternatively, the descriptors must be displayed perceptibly and in recognizable proximity to the age rating at the “point of sale” (e.g., product page).
In the context of storefronts, which are part of the IARC System, the age ratings and descriptors are displayed via the IARC System. For this purpose, it is necessary to communicate the issued USK certificates to the respective storefronts.
Submission form
Costs
You can find a list of the costs under our cost overview.
You can find more information in our Publisher-FAQs.
