Recently, the National Press and Publications Office issued a statement. On restricting or preventing minors from participating in online games. Additional strict measures have been taken to prevent the excessive use of minors or even online games. This will prevent minors from participating in online games, effectively protecting the physical and mental health of minors.
Under the new rules, people under the age of 18 in the country will only be allowed to play online video games for one hour a day, between 8pm and 9pm on weekends and other public holidays. The agency cited the safety of children's physical and mental health as the reason behind the new rules. Notably, these rules also apply to companies that provide online gaming services to these minors. They will be required to limit their services to users outside designated hours.
The news comes as a huge blow to the country's local online gaming industry and well-known players such as Tencentre and NetEase, which have faced a number of strict regulations, such as anti-monopoly charges and data protection. In addition, the new rules have created uncertainty for investors, with Chinese gaming companies seeing their share values fall.
In addition, companies are not allowed to provide services to users who are not logged in under their real name. This has a big impact on the local gaming industry. This is the second major blow, as a rule introduced in 2019 will ban children under 18 from playing for more than one and a half hours a day. Daniel Ahmad, Senior Analyst at Niko Partners, said, "There are now over 110 million minors playing video games in China, and we expect the new limits to lead to a reduction in the number of players and a reduction in time and money spent playing games for under-18s."
The Communication stated the need for active leadership and co-management of families, schools and other social sectors. To carry out the guardianship of minors in accordance with the law and to create a good environment for the healthy growth of minors.
