CN China Limits Minors to Just Three Hours of Online Gaming a Week

China’s regulators announced a new set of tighter regulations over the country’s games industry, including limiting the number of hours that minors can play.

The new rules are aimed at curbing excessive indulgence in games and protecting minors’ physical and mental health. Online game providers can only offer services to minors for an hour on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, Xinhua reported, citing a notice released by National Press and Publication Administration. They can also play only an hour a day during holidays.

The new rules are part of a broader government crackdown on technology companies in the country. Tencent Holdings Ltd., China’s largest games company, had already begun to implement similar restrictions.

Earlier this month, state media published forceful critiques of the industry and at one point labeled games “spiritual opium.” That description was later removed, but share prices plunged out of concern for further restrictions.

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[Billy Beer]

I'm cool with the gov't getting rid of gatcha games and gambling, shit's dumb and extremely predatory and an actual problem for easily impressionable kids. In an ideal world, nobody shouldn't have to pay for dumb pixels or advantages.

Gatcha is bad for the industry as well as it creates the WoW/Blizzard effect, where one game makes so much money (subscriptions back during the OG WoW days were making more money per month than most games were per year), that the company, in this case blizzard, sits on its arse doing nothing. Then when the cow runs dry they release a piece of shit like diablo 3, and have never recovered since.

Adults suffer from the pixel addiction too. Back in the heyday of TF2 trading I encountered one of the admins of a TF2 trading group, a lady who spent thousands on a collection of unusual Team Captains - the burning one included. She had a husband and a pre-teen son, and they sacrificed vacations for the sake of virtual flashing knockoff M. Bison hats. I'd assume part of the money spent was on keys. I'd say it'd be cool if they at the very least limited how much all players - adults included - could spend on online gambling since many adults lack the discipline not to throw their money into the void of 0s and 1s.

That's rough. The NHS has designated gaming addiction as a recognised illness.

 

[Exceptional Chimp]

Does someone know how to beg for mercy in Chinese?

No, but on Twitch I learned how to beg for money: "Ching chong chinky chang wang shut the fuck up sound good?"

 

[Just Another Apocalypse]

From what I can garner from the article, this is about stopping kids gaming online, right?

Sounds more like the CCP have shortage of 'ears' to snoop on Fortnite 'chatter'.

Lot of chinks playing games, not enough of them spying on each other.

 

[Aidan]

Offline gamers rise up!

 

[JimmyNugget]

What about single player games? Is someone going to track a Chinese boy for playing Blinx the time sweeper?

Can Brazil do this next? Less trash in my Dora matches.

 

[Darksy DePhil]

I'm fine with restricting vidya on kids. I've already seen many cases of people (lolcows included) whose parents just allowed them to nolife vidya their entire youth behind a screen and ended up growing up to be social reject NEETs with no talents or skills well into their early-to-mid 20's.
And a lot of people are saying "it should be up to the parents" but we all fucking know in cases like they either just give zero shits and can't see the consequences of videogame addiction, or get pressured into doing nothing about to not seem strict.

Although three hours a WEEK is nothing for gaming and China is still a shit.

 

[Vlinny-kun]

The day Tencent goes under would be a good day, so I'm ok with this.

 

[Don't Tread on Me]

I don't think you could really stop kids from playing video games, even with a gaming ban.

Putting all games under the same blanket is also a dangerous idea since many games that lack predatory practices rely on purchases from families to be able to continue making games. Behind the video games are people who have families to feed. If kids under 18 stopped playing video games, many gaming companies and video game devs would take a hit, especially the small indie developers - the ones less prone to pushing gambling than big companies like Epic Games.

This is specifically online gaming though. Regular RPGs you have in your house are unrestricted.

 

[ロボ﹏§¤r﹏h¶rœ]

Does it mean... the death of China-located cheats?

 

[Drifting Panzer]

China being China, this was bound to happen when they started with restrictions and get worse like this, but part of me think that if the parents did some actual parenting this might have been less draconian.

Question is, will the west do a weaker version and if so when?

Porn is already completely illegal in China.

Sadly my principles forces me to condemn this, but China shitting on the coomers and pornwhores, for whatever reason still puts a smile on my face.

 

[Shiversblood]

10 years ago I would say this is horrible. However, in modern day if a young child spends too much time online they end up becoming transgender so limiting their time online might be a wise idea in today’s world.

 

[Catgirls are Love]

10 years ago I would say this is horrible. However, in modern day if a young child spends too much time online they end up becoming transgender so limiting their time online might be a wise idea in today’s world.

If the Great Firewall of China has been implemented with even the most basic degree of competence that shouldn't be a possibility for Chinese youth.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

Are there even girls in Chinese schools? What is left for teenagers besides turning into raging homos?

 

[Exceptionally Exceptional]

The year is 2021
China restricts online gaming
Game companies see drop in revenue
They compensate by focusing on single player experience, extra income attained through DLC
Children in China embrace this and game more than ever
CCP does what the CCP does and bans gaming entirely
Millions of pissed Chinese gamers rise up violently overthrowing CCP and executing millions of party members, including their own parents where necessary
New governing body established, insanely hostile to communism
China begins invading communist countries
Declares America "too close to communism" and invades
Millions of fags, troons, academics, and soymenchen exterminated during invasion