China’s Youth Face Strict Gaming Limits During Winter Break

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As a gaming enthusiast, I’m sharing some news that might affect us gamers underage: China has announced stricter gaming regulations during the winter school break. These rules are designed to limit our screen time and address concerns about excessive gaming. Over the course of their month-long vacation, we can expect tighter restrictions on gaming. This is part of China’s broader strategy to regulate and monitor gaming habits among minors. Here’s a rundown of what these new measures entail.

New Rules, Same Challenges

To address the worrying problem of excessive gaming, China has implemented a game play limit during their winter school break from January 15 to February 14. Citizens under 18 years old in China are only permitted a maximum of 15 hours of gaming within this timeframe. Major gaming companies like Tencent and NetEase, famous for games such as Marvel Rivals, have agreed to abide by these new rules, restricting playtime for minors to 15 hours on Tencent and 16 hours on NetEase from January 13 to February 13. Over 200 other companies are also planning to adhere to these regulations.

As a gamer, I’ve got to admit, these new limitations aren’t something fresh under the sun. Back in 2021, my gaming hours were already capped to an hour daily, strictly on weekends – Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Big Brother is watching you

In contrast to many Western nations, where it’s customary to seek consent if an individual is below 18 years old, China tends to adopt a stricter approach. It’s common sense that anyone with internet access would honestly answer such a question, but China has additional safeguards in place.

During the upcoming holiday, Tencent will utilize their facial recognition technology to identify and take action against individuals violating the rules. If Tencent suspects a minor is utilizing an adult’s profile, it triggers a flag, giving the user of that profile three minutes to verify their identity using the facial recognition system. Initially developed to combat gaming piracy, this system is also used by NetEase.

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2025-01-15 17:39