[GameSpot] - China's Youth Are Now Only Allowed Three Hours Of Gaming Per Week

[343iBot]

China's rules for gaming just got stricter, as the country has issued new measures to crack down on an alleged video game addiction that has been blamed for everything from various societal ills to poor performance at schools. According to the Wall Street Journal, gamers under the age of 18 will not be allowed to play online games between 8 PM and 9 PM on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

"Gaming addiction has affected studies and normal life, and many parents have become miserable," China's National Press and Publication Administration said in a statement.

There will be some relief during school holidays though, as children will be allowed 60 minutes per day for gaming. As for how China plans to enforce this, the country's government has a number of methods at its disposal for ensuring that its youth sticks to the gaming curfew.

Identity cards are required for playing online, while a facial recognition system introduced in July by tech giant Tencent has proven to be effective at catching any children pretending to be adults in order to get around the government gaming curfew. Companies are also prohibited from offering gaming services outside of those stipulated hours.

China had previously banned late-night games and players were restricted to 90 minutes per weekday and three hours on weekends and holidays. Over the last few months though, China's government has introduced a number of new rules to an industry that makes billions of dollars in revenue every year across the world with the likes of Genshin Impact and Tencent's League of Legends.

Meanwhile, South Korea announced recently that it was scrapping a law that prevented young people from playing online video games late at night. Introduced in 2011 and targeted at players aged 16 or under, South Korean minors were prevented from playing online PC games between midnight and 6 AM.

Out of respect for its younger citizens rights, the law will be abolished and replaced by a choice permit system that allows players to request a permit per game and play during self-assigned hours that their parents will sign off on.

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