A bill was recently introduced for consideration in Turkey that would impose sanctions on popular digital game sales services if their owners refuse to cooperate.
Platforms with an audience exceeding a certain threshold of daily users (such as Steam or Epic Games Store) are intended to be required to "open official offices in Turkey and appoint local representatives".
According to the bill, all games sold to Turkish users must have age ratings from recognized systems such as PEGI or ESRB. Games without a clear age classification will be "banned from sale [to users] with a Turkish IP".
The bill also provides that the Turkish Information and Communication Technologies Authority will be the main body responsible for monitoring game content and will "have the authority to demand changes or the complete removal of problematic games." In addition, it is to receive the right to request user data and technical logs from a platform, "citing the public interest or child safety considerations".
If platforms refuse to comply, they will face restrictions — they may be throttled (their access speed limited by 90%), which will make them virtually unusable:
At such a reduced speed, downloading a modern 100 GB game could take months, making this measure equivalent to a complete ban.
Experts note that about 60% of games on Steam do not have an official age rating, meaning Turkish Steam and other services could eventually lose many titles (in this region). In addition, the potential costs of local representation may lead to a complete abandonment of regional pricing.