'Fri, Sat, Sun Only 1 Hour Each' Leads to 90% Drop in Gaming Time Among Chinese Adolescents

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] After the Chinese government limited online gaming time for minors to only one hour per day on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, it has been revealed that the gaming time of adolescents has significantly decreased.

According to Hong Kong Ming Pao on the 27th, Tencent, China's largest internet company, announced that after the new regulations on limiting gaming time for adolescents were announced last August, the gaming time of adolescents on their games decreased by 90%.

Tencent stated, "The effect of the strictest anti-gaming addiction law ever announced by Chinese authorities at the end of August is very clear," and "Since the implementation of the gaming restriction order, the gaming time of Chinese minors using Tencent games in September alone dropped by nearly 90% compared to the same period last year."

Tencent also reported that strengthening features such as real-name verification and facial recognition in account management to restrict adolescent access has been effective. They explained that in November, the average daily number of logged-in Tencent game accounts was 6.86 million, of which 11,000 accounts had facial recognition activated for payment.

On August 30, the Chinese government announced new regulations allowing adolescents under 18 years old to enjoy online games for only one hour per day on weekends and holidays. Game companies are not allowed to permit these adolescents to play games outside of these hours, and adolescents must undergo real-name verification procedures to use the games.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.