Game Over! China Announces Ban On Playing Video Games For Over 3 Hours Per Week
China has forbidden under-18s from playing video games for more than three hours a week, a stringent social intervention that it said was needed to pull the plug on a growing addiction.
The new rules, published on Monday by Xinhua state news agency, are part of a major shift by Beijing to strengthen control over its society and key sectors of its economy, including tech, education and property, after years of runaway growth.
On top of that, the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) is planning to implement stricter rules, requiring users to display their real names to register to portals.
The restrictions, which apply to any device including phones, are a body blow to a global gaming industry that caters to tens of millions of young players in the world’s most lucrative market.
According to a translated notice about the new rules, gamers under 18 will be allowed to play video games one hour…
