China is banning minors from playing online video games for more than three hours per week — and prohibiting the practice altogether during school days. …
China is banning minors from playing online video games for more than three hours per week — and prohibiting the practice altogether during school days. In an effort to fight addiction, gamers under the age of 18 will be allowed to play only during the hours of 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and official holidays, China’s main state-run media agency Xinhua reported on Monday. The news is part of a broader crackdown on tech in the country — and comes less than a month after Chinese state media slammed online games as “spiritual opium” threatening to “destroy a generation,” sending shares of game-makers plummeting. As part of the stringent rules revealed Monday, online game companies will be required to register gamers “using their real identifications,” meaning that crafty kids and teens will not be able to evade the ban by simply creating new accounts under fake names.
