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China limits children under the age of 18 playing games to three hours per week. Game development companies such as Tencent and NetEase will be able to provide online game play for minors for one hour a day only between Fridays and Sundays of the week and between 20:00 and 21:00 on public holidays.
China is already the world’s largest game market, but the Chinese authorities are tightening regulations on major tech companies that are also closely related to the game market. Tencent has limited play time for its popular game, Honor of Kings, to one hour on weekdays and two hours on weekends. However, with this tightening of regulations, minor gamers have more restrictions on their play time.
China’s state media is calling video games the opiate of the mind. Although the regulation targets online games, authorities are requiring all game titles to link with the state anti-dependency system. In addition, game platform companies are required to store all user data under their real names and strengthen the monitoring system by increasing reporting on transactions within the game. In addition, regulatory authorities are cooperating with parents and schools to take measures against youth game dependence.
According to Tencent, minors in the game business account for less than 3% of total revenue, so it is unlikely to have a significant impact. However, if you look at the recent moves by the Chinese authorities, the environment for game companies may become more difficult in the future.
Meanwhile, Korea, like China, had a juvenile protection amendment law that stipulated that gamers under the age of 16 should not play online games between midnight and 6 a.m., but decided to abolish it at the end of August to respect children’s rights. Related information can be found here.
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