China Sets Weekly Video Game Limit To 3 Hours
New rules released Monday by the China National Press and Publication Authority have not allowed children, adolescents or 18-year-olds in China to play online video games for only three hours a week. Chinese gaming platforms Tencent and Netease will limit online gambling by minors to three hours a week after regulators introduced new rules on Monday, Bloomberg reported, citing a report by state media.
China has announced another crackdown on the time children can play online video games, with a new limit for three hours per week. The ban will limit games for most weeks of the year to three hours a week compared to previous restrictions in 2019 that allowed minors to play for one hour and a half a day and three hours on public holidays. Although the move is restrictive, it nears the point where one has to ask how much meaningful investment the estimated 110 million Chinese minors who play video games have in games with a limit of 3 hours a year.
That is the message China is sending out with a new set of restrictions on screen time for minors that limits children to just three hours of online video games per week. China has banned online gaming from children for more than three hours a week - the strictest restriction on the gaming industry to date, as Chinese regulators continue to crack down on the industry. Under new rules released by China's National Press and Publication Administration Monday, the government has reduced the time children can play online games.
China's strict restrictions on how long minors can play online video games are becoming more stringent. Under stricter rules, minors classified as under 18 in China are allowed only 1.5 hours a day to play video games. It seems unlikely that these restrictions will remain in place for much longer, but for the most restrictive time, China seems to be moving closer to banning games for minors, given that we are now increasing from 10.5 hours a week to three hours.
Tencent announced earlier this month that it would limit the playtime for minors to one hour a day and two hours during the holidays and would ban children under 12 from buying games. So far, the country has limited the duration of video games to 1.5 hours a day, while the rules foresee a three-hour holiday in 2019. In addition, China requires video game companies operating in the country to set up an authentication system for players so that children do not violate the rules by using fake accounts.