China Limits Video Game Time For Gamers Under 18

China limits video game time for children, restricting them to one hour of gameplay between 8 pm – 9 pm on Fridays, weekends, and holidays. The recent news has also reported that gaming companies are now required to prevent children from playing outside of this designated time slot, with a state media outlet referring to gaming as “Spiritual Opium“.

China’s video game regulator had already previously restricted children’s gameplay to 90 minutes per day, which rose to three hours during the holidays. The regulator is also going to be carrying out inspections of online gaming companies,  checking that they enforce the time limit. There are currently over 110 million minors in China that play games and these new rulings could bring a massive decline in the country’s player base, with companies now required to implement real-name registration and login systems into their games, with no access being granted for those unregistered.

So, Why Is China Limiting Video Game Time?

The government has had concerns over the impact of increased levels of gaming among the youth and prior to the restrictions, a state-run article was published claiming many teenagers had become addicted to online gaming. As you would imagine, the limit has significantly affected the value of shares in Chinas biggest online gaming companies.

following fears that children would just use their parent’s ID to circumvent the time limit, Tencent announced they were going to be using facial recognition to reinforce the new rule.

Many Chinese parents may be in favor of such ruling but there has already been a massive crackdown on China’s tech giants, such as Alibaba and Didi, not to mention reforms over activities such as celebrity fan culture and private tutoring, so after gaming, whats next?