China’s new gaming time restrictions are testing young players' endurance as they face tight limits during the winter school break.
China has once again introduced strict regulations on video game playtime for children during the winter school break. The new rules aim to limit gaming time and address concerns over excessive screen use. Young gamers will face tighter restrictions throughout their month-long break from school. This move is part of China’s ongoing effort to manage and control gaming habits among minors. Here's everything you need to know about the new measures.
New Rules, Same Challenges
In order to combat the concerning issue of gaming addiction, China has enforced a game time limit during the winter school break from January 15 to February 14. During this period, Chinese citizens under the age of 18 are only allowed a total of 15 hours of game time. China's gaming giants, Tencent and NetEase, known for popular games like Marvel Rivals, have already pledged support for the new restrictions, limiting playtime for minors to 15 hours for Tencent and 16 hours for NetEase between January 13 and February 13. Over 200 other companies are also set to comply with these measures.
The new restrictions are not the first. In 2021, the country already imposed a one-hour daily limit on gaming for minors, specifically on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
Big Brother is watching you
While in the Western world, this measurement would probably be regulated by asking you beforehand if you are under the age of 18 – a question that every person with access to the internet has always answered truthfully, of course – China is a little bit more strict.
Tencent is using their facial recognition system to 'detect and punish transgressors during the upcoming holiday.' If Tencent thinks a minor is using the profile of an adult, it gets flagged, and the user of the profile has 3 minutes to use the facial recognition system in order to prove that the person using the profile is an adult. This system was originally introduced to combat gaming piracy and is also employed by NetEase.
What do you think of the measure and the companies' help in enforcing it? Drop your thoughts in the comments!