China limits game time by issuing a new measure regarding the video game addiction for minors, below the age of 18. Authorities blame video game addiction for a host of societal ills, including distracting young people from school and family responsibilities.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, on Monday National Press and Publication Administration unveils new regulation which will ban minors, defined as those under 18 years of age, from playing online videogames entirely between Monday and Thursday. On the other three days of the week, and on public holidays, they will be only permitted to play between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.
The government also announced that all video games will have to connect to an anti-addiction system operated by National Press and Publication Administration. This will take effect from 1st September 2021, Wednesday, and will require all the users to register with their real news and government verified ID proofs.
Along with the use of government verified ID proofs, a facial recognition system was introduced by tech giant Tencent in July. The facial recognition system has been proved effective as minors can no more pretend as adults and create ids in video games. Gaming companies are also being prohibited by the government to offer any type of gaming services outside the stipulated hours.
China has previously banned late-night games where players were restricted to 90 minutes per weekday and three hours on weekends and holidays. Over the month’s China has introduced a number of restrictions in the gaming industry that earns billions of dollars every year through Genshin Impact and Tencent’s League of Legends.
Bloomberg reports that Chinese internet service provider and PC games publisher NetEase’s stock price fell 9.3% this morning in New York as news of the increased restrictions broke.
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