Esport

China Imposes a Curfew on Gamers

Oops, failure, loss. Teenager boy lost in a computer game. A schoolboy sits upset in front of a computer monitor, covering his face with his hands.

Chinese teens have been limited time for online games, banned from playing at night and restrictions on purchases. Regulatory measures will be applied to all online platforms in the country, especially Tencent, one of the world’s largest gaming companies.

Under the new rules, players under the age of 18 will be banned from playing online games from 10 pm until 08:00 am. On weekdays, teens will be allowed to play only 90 minutes, and on weekends and holidays – no more than three hours a day.

The rules also impose restrictions on the amount of money that minors can transfer to their game accounts. Gamers in the age from 8 to 16 years can refill only 200 yuan (about $ 29) per month, and for players aged 16 to 18, the maximum amount is 400 yuan (about $ 57).

The Chinese government and police, are introducing a real-name registration system that will allow gaming companies to verify the personal data of their users with a national database. Player activity will be tracked through identifiers. (this is the way China is saying “we don’t give a fuck about your GDPR”)

The Chinese authorities believe that video games cause addiction, as a result – school performance suffers and myopia appears. The new rules, according to the country’s leadership, should “protect the mental and physical health of teenagers.”

I wonder, what would be the next thing that China will ban?

Peter Nielsen

I can write about anything if I have enough time to google it. But boy, don't get me started on VR and stuff like that — you'll never shut me up ;)