Tencent, the Chinese giant, is considering limiting children’s gaming time through contracts that they would enter into with their parents. This way, they could earn more time for gaming through good grades or doing household chores.
China is crazy about Honor of Kings, known in Germany as “Arena of Valor.” It’s somewhat like League of Legends as a mobile game. Its publisher Tencent controls all digital threads: in addition to the games, it also oversees messenger apps and payment services.
Tencent is enormous, generating as much revenue in a quarter as the western mega-publishers do in an entire year. Honor of Kings is incredibly successful. It is said that 108 million women play it.
China’s youth in the clutches of video games?
In China, many parents and teachers are concerned that the country’s children are spending too much time on the game. Honor of Kings is seen as a nightmare for parents. The kids play it endlessly.
The vice president of a university called video games “the new opium to poison teenagers.” Even the state press reports on the problems. The situation is serious.
In 2017, Tencent already responded to these concerns and limited Honor of Kings playtime for those under twelve to one hour a day. Twelve to eighteen-year-olds are allowed to play for two hours a day. However, complaints have not ceased since then.
Now, Tencent is still considering how to appease parents’ concerns.
Tencent: Contracts between children and parents should regulate gaming time
Tencent’s CEO is apparently not a fan of strict regulation and has other plans. He thinks it would be better if gaming time were agreed upon between children and parents.
Thus, CEO Pony Ma suggests that parents and children enter into a digital contract where performance and gaming time are correlated. If the child does something good, such as spending time outdoors, completing household chores, or achieving good grades, then longer gaming time could be a reward for the child.
Whether Tencent will really implement this is currently unknown.
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