An hour a day as much, and only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
That will be all the time that the young Chinese less than 18 will have to play videogames in network from now on.
It is the limit imposed by a new and restrictive governance of government destined to combat addiction to games.
“In response to the problem of excessive use, or even the addiction of minors to online games, measures will be strictly controlled to effectively protect physical and mental health,” say the authorities, who have come to buy video games with ”
opium for the spirit ”
The notice, sent to companies that manage the servers of popular online games such as Tencent or Netease, even point out the only time that young people can play: from 8 to 9 at night, as the Xinhua state news agency advances
.
National parties will also be allowed to play in this same time strip.
China already had one of the most restrictive laws to control the online game of minors.
So far, children under 18 could only play an hour and a half a day, but almost every day, not just on weekends.
Also, although the game was forbidden from 10 o’clock at night until 8 in the morning, players could choose at what time of day they used those 90 minutes.
Network gambling platforms, therefore, have systems already implemented to control schedules limits and require real names to register game accounts to avoid circumstances.
The standard does not affect games that do not require network connection or multiplayer game but it is hard blow to very popular titles as honor of Kings or Onmyoji, which have millions of players in China, many of them minors.
These games are often free, but encourage the purchase of Loot Boxes (surprise chests) or seasonal passes with which to obtain special objects or weapons most powerful for the characters.
China has forbidden from 2019 access to children under eight years with purchases of virtual objects and limits maximum spending at about $ 25 per month for less than 8 and 16 year old accounts.
