In order to handle the video game addiction issue among China’s youth, the government is implementing a limit to how many hours online gaming companies are allowed to offer kids.
For some players in China, this is devastating news… If you are not over 18 years of age, you are no longer allowed to play more than 3 hours per week, the Xinhua news media reported Monday.
Under the new rules, companies are now permitted to only offer their services to youngsters on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., the report says. Kids are also allowed to play during these times on national holidays.
China limits children to 3 hours of online gaming a week https://t.co/RuAb5JFLVO
— CBS46 (@cbs46) August 31, 2021
According to the new rules, companies also need to make sure that kids are using their real names when they sign in and have to prevent people who don’t use their true identity from logging on, likely as a way for the government to monitor compliance with the new rules.
And it’s not the first time…
This is not the first time that the country has restricted gaming among youth, as according to rules implemented in 2019, kids were allowed to play online games for a maximum of 90 minutes daily, and they were not permitted to play between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. Real identities, as well as phone numbers, were also required back then.
China announced strict new rules that will ban children from playing online games during weekdays and limit them to just three hours per week. https://t.co/i1vGr6vH21
— Variety (@Variety) August 30, 2021
According to the 2019 measures, the monthly allowance for children to spend on microtransactions was ranging from $28 to $57, depending on their age. Many parents might argue that this is a great idea as microtransactions have cost unsuspecting families plenty of money… Many have also filed lawsuits against companies for leading children into spending insane amounts of cash that they don’t own.
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