On Friday, Chinese gaming giant Tencent announced new
curbs on underage video-game playing as part of a government crackdown
on youth gaming addiction that has cast a cloud over the company’s
biggest revenue source.
Tencent said it has imposed a digital lock on some games that
requires players aged under 13 years to ask their guardians to open.
The new restriction will be piloted for the Chinese versions of the two hit games Honor of Kings and PUBG Mobile.
Last year,
the government announced new controls on the number of
games that can be played online, limited new releases, and imposed rules
on under-age players to reduce their screen time.
The government justified the new curbs as a way to counter worsening
near-sightedness among minors, shortly after President Xi Jinping called
for greater national attention on optical health.
Tencent, in which Naspers has a more-than 30% stake, has already launched a real-name identification system for Honor of Kings to enforce playtime restrictions on youths.
China is the world’s biggest video game market and Tencent the planet’s biggest game company.
- AFP
No comments:
Post a Comment