I'm from Germany and have read the source article referenced by the google translation.
Firstly, several tests of a game by the rating institution are normal. Nobody made any fuss when tests 2,3,4 and 5 where required. What is so special about this situation is that the intervention came from some bureaucratic process that normally doesn't interfere with it. According to EA, this is the first time it has happened after USK (the rating organisation) rated 30,000 games.
Secondly, as has already been remarked, this is just a call for reevaluation, not an automatic ban.
Thirdly, EA is pissed about the effect it has on the possible street day for the game. With marketing timing probably long fixed, it's bad if you have all marketing blitz in january but can't sell the game until a month later.
Generally about the censorship debate: Obviously, America with its emphasis on Free Speech is much less encumbered by such things as Germany and Australia, the poster boys for restricted/censored games. As someone pointed out, these are exactly the things America will encounter if the California game bill goes through.
But I can only smile at the "Stop selling there, it's their loss" postings. Companies go where the profit is. Of course they will fight any regulations that hinder them, but if there is profit, they will take it. That's true for game companies that change their games in Germany. If they don't, they won't be censored. Of course, they risk having to comply with the same mechanisms that prevents pornography coming into the hands of minors. That means common chains will not carry it, it's hard to get via mail order, etc. In other words, it will sell only so few copies that it isn't worth it.
Whereever there are media ratings that influence potential viewership, the media producers want a rating as low as possible. That's true in this case, but it is also true for every movie made in Hollywood for the American and international markets. Cuts are made, if necessary, to get the desire rating, in both cases.
Another effect one can see here is that different nations value things differently. Most importantly, developers/film makers from one country are usually well versed in the requirements for their own country, so will avoid on their own things which might bump up the rating, if they can find a similar way to express what they want. If you want to make sure the audience knows two people have sex, you can show that explicitly, or you can do that without any nudity, just with audio. If you want to make sure the audience knows two people are slashing each other open with knives, you can also directly show that, or use other means.
A German film might do the more explicite sex scene but the limited knife fight, while the American one would do it the other way around. Both would probably need a cut to retain their respective ratings. Obviously, with much more films/games going America --> Germany than the other way around, the German censorship becomes more obvious.
