China wants gaming operators to limit online gaming by teenagers

China wants gaming operators to limit online gaming by teenagers

Eight government departments in china have issued a circular requiring the gaming service operators in the country to prevent young people from spending too much time online playing games.

China is the second largest internet market in the world with around 123 million web users last year. Around 18 million of them are under the age of 18.

The government wants the limit to be set at three hours. They are asking the gaming operators to develop a system that cancels half a minor’s earned gaming credits if they remain online for more than three hours a day.

If they play more than five hours a day all of their credits would be taken away. The circular also aims to get the gamers register on the servers using their real names and identity card numbers. This is to get the real age of the gamer for moderation on the system.

The circular requires them to prepare such a system by June 15. After testing for a month, they want it to be implemented by July 15.