The Steam Deck, gaining momentum with its expanding gaming library, poses a challenge for families with younger users. While it offers incredible versatility, its extensive game selection includes content unsuitable for a younger audience. To ensure a family-friendly gaming experience, we present a detailed guide on how to effectively filter mature content on the Steam Deck.
the Need for Content Filtering
The Steam Store, renowned for its vast game collection, caters to diverse tastes, including mature audiences. As of January 12, 2024, the Steam Deck’s OS update brings new steps to filter out explicit and adult-only content, ensuring a safer environment for younger users.
Setting Up Content Filtering: A Step-by-Step Guide
1. Log into the User’s Account
Initiate the process by logging into the user’s account on the Steam Deck. Navigate to the profile image located at the top right corner of the screen.
2. Access Store Preferences
Select ‘Store Preferences’ from the dropdown menu. This opens the Mature Content Preferences menu, where users can customize their content filtering settings.
3. General Mature Content Settings
Toggle off the ‘General Mature Content’ option to filter out content deemed too violent or explicit for younger gamers. The menu also provides a link to view examples of mature games falling under this category.
4. Violence and Gore Filtering
Users can ensure that games featuring frequent violence and gore, such as Mortal Kombat and Doom, are filtered out. This step adds an extra layer of protection against potentially disturbing content.
5. Adult-Only Sexual Content
Arguably the most crucial step, disabling the ‘Adult-Only Sexual Content’ option excludes games with extremely sexualized content. This is a significant measure to maintain age-appropriate gaming experiences.
6. Nudity and Sexual Content Filtering
Activate the option to filter out all content featuring nudity and sexual content. Games like Grand Theft Auto and Cyberpunk 2077 fall into this category, ensuring a more controlled gaming environment.
7. Add Tag Feature
Scroll down the Preferences page to find the ‘Add Tag’ feature. This allows users to be more precise about the content they want to avoid by entering tags like nudity or gore. All titles with such content will then be blurred out and removed from recommendation pages.
8. Community Content Preferences
Under ‘Community Content Preferences,’ users can filter and censor profanity and slurs in community chats, enhancing the overall gaming experience.
Individual Settings for Multiple Users
It’s crucial to note that the content filtering feature is unique to each user’s settings. In households with more than one child using the Steam Deck, responsible adults must apply the filtering features individually to ensure tailored protection.
Conclusion
By following these detailed steps, Steam Deck users can create a secure gaming environment for younger players. Empowering responsible adults with the tools to filter mature content reinforces the Steam Deck’s position as a versatile and family-friendly gaming platform.