The Chinese government is tightening restrictions on young people playing online games. Under the new regulation, which will take effect from September 1st, under-18s will only be able to play online games between 8pm and 9pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (and also on public holidays).
Players will have to use their real names when registering for games. All online games will have to use the National Press and Publication Management’s online game anti-addiction real name confirmation system.
These new rules aim to combat young people’s addiction to online gaming and are based on the idea that under-18s are in the physical and spiritual development stage and have poor willpower.
In China, especially free-to-play online games and esports games are incredibly popular, so online games are targeted. These restrictions will not affect players’ offline playing time on their own.
