Tencent, the Chinese giant of mobile games, cares about the time children spend in front of the screens. The company has implemented new measures to limit the exposure of the little ones to one hour per day. The Beijing government is determined to limit the harmful effects of addiction to video games on its youth, even if it means using great resources, in collaboration with companies in the sector.
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Wall Street Journal article describes how Tencent intends to limit children’s play time in China. This measure, which has been in place for a month already, determines the age of players in “Honor of Kings”, a game so popular in the Middle Kingdom that it triggered deviant behavior among young schoolchildren, who no longer do their homework or who no longer sleep by dint of playing. Thus, players under the age of 13 will only be entitled to one hour of play per day, while young people between the ages of 13 and 18 will only be able to enjoy their hobby for two hours a day. A company representative even said that, whatever their age, children and adolescents will only be allowed to play during the day, between 8 and 9 p.m.. He adds: “The protection of minors is an important task which all of society must pay attention to. Our company bears a great responsibility in respecting this obligation ”.
The company will verify the age of the players by requiring an official identification before you can use your games. This measure will be applicable to players already registered as well as new arrivals. Its implementation involves a large-scale device, the video game market currently reaching nearly 604 million players in China. Only ten games are affected in 2018, but Tencent will extend these identity checks to its entire catalog from next year. Addiction to video games is a proven global phenomenon. Could this decision be emulated by other companies and governments around the world?
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