Game over: China limits kids to three hours of video games a week

Shanghai: China has forbidden under-18s from playing video games for more than three hours a week, a stringent social intervention that it said was needed to pull the plug on an addiction to what it once described as “spiritual opium”.

The new rules, published on Monday, are part of a major shift by Beijing to strengthen control over its society and key sectors of its economy, including tech, education and property, after years of runaway growth.

Young Chinese gamers play Tencent’s popular Honour of Kings adventure game.Credit: AP

The restrictions, which apply across all devices including phones, are a blow to a global gaming industry that caters to tens of millions of young players in the world’s most lucrative market.

They limit under-18s to playing for one hour a day between 8pm and 9pm only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, according to the Xinhua state news agency. Young gamers can also play for an hour – again between 8pm and 9pm – on public holidays.

The rules from the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) regulator coincide with a broader clampdown by Beijing against China’s tech giants, such as Alibaba and Tencent.

The campaign to prevent what state media has described as the “savage growth” of some companies wiped tens of billions of dollars off shares traded at home and abroad.

“Teenagers are the future of our motherland,” Xinhua quoted an unnamed NPPA spokesperson as saying.

“Protecting the physical and mental health of minors is related to the people’s vital interests, and relates to the cultivation of the younger generation in the era of national rejuvenation.”

Gaming companies will be barred from providing services to minors in any form outside the stipulated hours and must ensure they have put real-name verification systems in place, said the regulator, which oversees the country’s video games market.

The technology world’s most bruising battle is taking place in China between Tencent and Alibaba.Credit: AP

Previously, China had limited the length of time under-18s could play video games to 1½ hours on any day and three hours on holidays under 2019 rules.

The new rules swiftly became one of the most discussed topics on Weibo, China’s answer to Twitter. Some users expressed support for the measures, while others said they were surprised at how drastic the rules were.

“This is so fierce that I’m utterly speechless,” said one comment that received over 700 likes.

Others expressed doubt that the restrictions could be enforced: “They will just use their parents’ logins, how can they control it?“.

Gaming shares zapped

The Chinese games market will generate an estimated $US45.6 billion ($61 billion) of revenue in 2021, ahead of the United States, according to analytics firm Newzoo.

The crackdown reverberated around the world.

Shares in Amsterdam-listed tech investment company Prosus , which holds a 29 per cent stake in Chinese social media and video games group Tencent, were down 1.45 per cent, while European online video gaming stocks Ubisoft and Embracer Group each fell more than 2 per cent.

Shares of Chinese gaming stocks slid in pre-market trading in the United States with NetEase falling more than 6 per cent and mobile game publisher Bilibili dropping 3 per cent.

About 62.5 per cent of Chinese minors play games online, and 13.2 per cent of underage mobile game users play mobile games for more than two hours a day on working days, according to state media.

Gaming companies have been on edge in recent weeks as state media criticised gaming addiction among young people, signalling a regulatory crackdown.

A state media outlet in August described online games as “spiritual opium” and cited Tencent’s Honour of Kings in an article that called for more curbs on the industry, battering shares in the world’s largest gaming firm by revenue.

Tencent later announced new measures to reduce the time and money children spend on games, starting with Honour of Kings. Its president also said it was working with regulators to explore ways in which the total amount of time minors spent on gaming could be capped across all titles in the industry.

The NPPA regulator told Xinhua it would increase the frequency and intensity of inspections for online gaming companies to ensure they were putting in place time limits and anti-addiction systems.

It also said that parents and teachers played key roles in curbing gaming addiction.

Reuters

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