Hi Bob!
Sorry for singling you out this time, this post applies to more members than you, but it just got my attention, so I took it.
Ocean has finally come to his senses and gets an USK rating, as I mentioned several times before, he should have done that before the release rating debacle of SG on Steam. So, hoy Yeah for this late, but not completely too late, step!
Also I think he still does not look at the USK rating like he should. Yes, it is not cheap, 1800 € is a sum (besides why 1800? An USK rating for this kind of program costs 1500, maybe he took the option for quick rating DLCs with it?), but it does not only help with Steam, but GoG and Epic also! These two might not nag about ratings as much as Steam, as the market leader, does, but they too really like officially rated games (not only from Germany, but other nations as well).
Easier all around for them, safer on the law side of things, for the Devs too and the companies usually treat those with official ratings better and approve stuff faster and with less hassle than if they themselves must rate them.
That is a net win for the devs too, SG for example could have been sold on German Steam for months now. As an important software market, Ocean would have regained most or even all costs of the USK rating by now.
As for the "unexplored territory", that is not true. As I mentioned before, another indie developer got an USK rating of 16 for his EA game. While it is not the main part of the game, it has Strippers, doing what Strippers typically do and more, in it. It got released on Steam without fuss. Also other small developers get USK ratings, like Egosoft, who is more or less a company of a few old friends, makers of the X-Series and the current "X4 Foundation".
If Ocean now got the USK 18 as he said, then we can at least sincerely hope he took the ungimped version to the board, because the current fluffy-washed Steam version would have gotten a 12, 16 if the rating board had a bad day and disliked him.
If Ocean got a normal 18, then it should have been for the less soft one taken to the USK, esp. in light of the coming seasons. I theorise that USK 18 is in light of the coming seasons and Ocean gave them estimates for those seasons to rate, since it influences the total rating.