The Chinese government has issued tough new rules for underage gamers. They came into effect on Tuesday. They limit gaming time for players under 18 and their ability to spend money in games.
Here are the new rules: The rules were announced on Tuesday. They apply to video gamers under 18. Three things are prohibited:
- Nighttime gaming – Playing between 10 PM and 8 AM is completely prohibited
- Too long gaming – They are allowed to play only 90 minutes on weekdays and 180 minutes on weekends and holidays
- Too high spending in cash shops – Their spending on virtual items is limited to $28 to $57, depending on the player’s age
What does China want to achieve with this? The Chinese government sees three problems that it wants to tackle with the new rules:
- Video game addiction among minors
- An increase in nearsightedness – as apparently many stare at their phones to play
- And a decline in academic performance in society
How are the rules supposed to be implemented? At nikopartners it says that gaming companies must now ensure that these new rules are enforced:
- Players must register with their “real name” – it will then be checked against a national database. This leads to restrictions on the account if the player is underage
- Game developers must implement an “anti-addiction” system to limit gaming time
- Such a system is also needed for cash shops
- China will introduce a system for age recommendations
- Publishers should finance campaigns that clarify how responsible gaming works
- And there are rules that force publishers to work with local authorities to ensure enforcement of the rules
Gamers are under the spotlight of Xi Jinping
What’s behind it: In China, the online market is booming. There are hundreds of millions of players there.
Free-to-play titles are particularly popular in China – mobile gaming is constantly growing. The country is crazy about titles like League of Legends, its mobile counterpart Honor of Kings or Dungeon Fighter Online.
In recent months, the climate towards gaming has tightened, as reported by the New York Times . State media compared games to “poison.” Some games have been banned for being too violent.
Xi Jinping, the President of China, has personally stated that children have poor eyesight. This increased pressure on the authorities to take action.
Especially the large Chinese gaming companies like Tencent have suffered under the beginning restrictions in recent years. There was a halt in the approval of video games, which significantly affected Tencent’s stock value.
Games like Monster Hunter World could not be sold in China in August 2018 because the government’s approval was missing.
Tencent has been able to circumvent some of China’s measures in the past and wanted to prevent a stricter state regulation with self-imposed rules (like household chores).
Experts believe that the Chinese industry has prepared for these regulations coming. In addition, similar rules were already in place, but could be relatively easily bypassed.
Companies have been working for some time on technology to determine and verify the age of players.
