China Bans Kids From Online Gaming Except For Just 3H A Week To Curb Addiction
Image via ID 127267342 © Jjfarq | Dreamstime.com
China recently announced new nationwide laws for online video games, with children 18 years old and under limited to just three hours of playtime per week.
According to a report by CNBC, the country is pushing an effort to protect children’s physical and mental health by keeping them off online gaming servers for the majority of the week.
Not only will they be limited to three hours, but they’ll also only be able to utilize the playtime between 8pm and 9pm on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays. Oof.
This new rule completely prevents students from gaming during the school week. Game developers will be required to sign up to this “anti-addiction” system, so as to allow the government to enforce the time limits, as per The Wall Street Journal.
According to 9to5Mac, China had previously allowed children under the age of 18 to play up to 90 minutes of online video games daily. With such a significant decrease this time round, it’s unclear how kids will react to the news.
It’s also not great news for the world’s largest video game market, which the South China Morning Post reported had generated 278.7 billion yuan (US$43 billion) in 2020, with half the country playing at least one video game.
Will this new rule help kids tackle the growing problem of gaming addiction? Or will it simply push them to other platforms instead? Whatever the outcome is, such a drastic change will not go unnoticed by players in the industry.
[via 9to5Mac, cover image via ID 127267342 © Jjfarq | Dreamstime.com]
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