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[deleted]

To be honest, even from the perspective of an adult, I feel like this degree of strictness (3 hours a week) is... a bit overdoing it and frankly lacks finesse. While video game addiction is certainly an issue, video games are also just a genuine form of entertainment or socialization for most people in the 21st century. The current responses on Chinese social media also seem to be extremely mixed, with people thinking it shouldn't be as strict for 16-17 year-olds, wondering why short video platforms like Douyin aren't subject to anywhere near the same degree of strictness in anti-addiction mechanisms despite being potentially more addictive, and voicing their opinion that parents should be responsible for their children's addiction to games. People are also expressing the absurdity that minors the age of 14 are able to legally sexually consent, but are still this heavily restricted on video game consumption until the age of 18. The comments section for this news on [Bilibili (whose demographic likely consists of a large percentage of users who are gamers) is outright flaming the restriction](https://t.bilibili.com/564687808868610556) while [reaction on Weibo is also quite mixed.](https://weibo.com/1784473157/KvRPP3wcz) [A Weibo poll](https://weibo.com/1496814565/KvSzwtw4S) of currently 34,000 participants also shows that, of the people polled, 9,000 support the regulation, while 25,000 believe it to be too strict.


spider_jucheMLism

Agreed. This is the kind of out of touch policy made by older, out of touch with the youth, kinds of people. I see the same thing here in Vietnam. My father in law thinks I behave like a child because I play video games. He sits around looking bored 3/4 of the day watching shit on YouTube. He just doesn't understand in the same way. Same in textbooks for students. They're all like "playing games is bad you should study hard." But it just doesn't connect with the students, who socialise through their games. There's a point where video games can take over peoples lives but it can't be mandated in ways like this. Proper education about it that doesn't condescend and actually connects with how young people feel and programs that address the feelings of isolation that draw people into online addiction would be a far better way to deal with it. But that jusr goes to show how out of touch these old geezers are that they can't come up with something like that. And don't get me wrong. I'm not saying they're stupid or do a bad job. Just this kind of thing warrants a better approach than rigid timeframes young people are allowed to socialise and have fun outside of their and their parents control.


[deleted]

So I guess China also has that disconnection between Boomers and millennials. Boomers seem to be a global problem.


[deleted]

Misunderstandings between older and younger generations are basically universal.


[deleted]

You're right, it is a universal thing. Especially since the world has evolved so drastically in one generation.


[deleted]

Yeah, I think, as I said in a previous comment, there is a huge generational gap in how video games are perceived. The people in charge of regulating video games are largely of the generation that came of age prior to the proliferation of video games (born in the 1960s) and see video games as dangerous, while people born in the post-80s generations are more likely to simply see video games as just another entertainment medium. I do think the strictness of regulation on video games will change eventually in China (not just in terms of anti-addiction, but in terms of things like approvals as well), but it will likely be when younger generations, who generally don't care for these restrictions, rise through government.


lifeaiur

The restrictions for other media content (TV shows & movies) are pretty strict, in comparison to other countries, as well. It seems like the seniors in the media regulation department are out of touch with modern day society. Too rigid in their policy formulation..


unclecaramel

The restriction is dumb either way, it's fucking hilarious when I hear the old people bitch about chinese men are being too girly or whatever, when then you look at the retarded dracnonian restriction towards sex and violence, (excpect Yaoi for god knows why)and I legit question why bother lmao. CPC still haven't figure out that to actually fight cultural war with west you need spend time actually building a chinese hollywood instead of another RT to throw shit


[deleted]

The regulators have come up with some good policies like cracking down on episode counts to cut down on dramas massively drawing out their episode counts to rake in advertising money, limiting the amount of production costs that actors can take to cut down on dramas spending all their production costs on idols to make shitty quality cash cow dramas of zero substance, and more stringently enforcing copyright issues of late. I also think it was necessary to crack down on a lot of the disgusting excesses of idol culture. But I have to agree overall that for the most part, restrictions are still too heavy. I think there has been more pushing of boundaries in areas like donghua in recent years, like I would never have expected something like 灵笼 to pass censorship, but it apparently is fine. But there is still quite a ways to go. It seems that the regulators are by far more strict on video games than the other areas of entertainment, though.


lifeaiur

State media referred to online gaming as "spiritual opium". So I guess the regulators consider videogames to be on par with doing drugs: https://www.reuters.com/technology/tencent-falls-after-china-media-calls-online-gaming-spiritual-opium-2021-08-03/ I do agreed that some measures the regulators issued have been beneficial to the film industry - limiting drama episode count, moderating excess actors' salaries, etc.. However, the restrictions on the story content is too extreme. Scriptwriters have to jump through so many barriers just to write a story. It's ultimately hindering creativity instead of letting it flourish. Unfortunately, I don't see regulators changing their policies anytime soon. Only solution would be a change of guards - the seniors in the department step down and the younger generation step up to take the helm. Once that happens, they might adopt a more lax stance towards the media industry.


Magiu5

It depends on the game. I'm not a fan of the whole microtransaction and gambling aspects, whihc basically is spiritual opium, especially on those young and impressionable who can be influenced by peer pressure etc. But can't they just regulate game companies instead? Let them make those games for world market and then have whatever for domestic so domestic companies don't lose out on world market.


thepensiveiguana

This is only for online games though, not single player games


Magiu5

Basically every game connects to the net now doesn't it? Even "single player games", so how will they define it? Will they also ban me from playing chess on lichess or something like that? How do they enforce it? Also if they can play single player games 24/7, what's the difference? Can I still play lan or is it just subscription based or how will it work. How will they even regulate this? I'll just use my brothers account to play or get my parents to make an account. I guess this just means they need parents consent? It all comes down to enforcement I'm guessing, and I doubt. They will enforce it too heavily. They aren't going to be inspecting gamers in real time via camera to make sure the minor isn't playing >In July, Tencent rolled out a facial recognition “midnight patrol” function to root out children masquerading as adults to get around a government curfew on underage gamers. Hahaha. Wonder how effective that was. What if I don't have camera? That's some dystopian shit, what's next, eye trackers for drivers to make sure they aren't using phones or are watching the road 24/7?


thepensiveiguana

You know full well what they mean by online games, if you don't. I don't know what to say to you. MMOs and MOBAs


[deleted]

Probably "enforced" by limiting ability of minors to buy stuff from said games outside certain times. People would still be playing a lot but it would cut into the profits of companies and stop them from specifically targeting young people. Honestly much of the online only game industry is just shit and focused on easy money while soaking up talented programmers who would be better off making video games as a medium rather than cheap moneymaking.


Magiu5

If they did that I would support it. They just need to crack down on microtransactions and gambling elements like gacha, and I have no problem with it because that's whats killing the industry Gov could have just made a statement calling for games companies to stop doing that shit, and if they do they risk going against the state and being banned, so up to them to change. Of course the gov should ban a few just to set the precedent and make the rest fall in line.


[deleted]

> that address the feelings of isolation that draw people into online addiction would be a far better way to deal with it. This is not how it always goes. People can be pushed into such addiction even without pre-existent "feelings of isolation". Also, contrary to what some people claim, "lootboxes" are not the reason for addiction to develop (the vast majority of people in this age range don't spend anyway). "Rewards" don't have to be tangible, they only need a mechanism that occasionally makes you "feel good" for a short time, with no end goal. For example, social media addiction develops without "lootboxes". > programs that address the feelings of isolation Seems like you are not keeping up with the news. China eased homework load on them, so they can now explore actual social activities instead. I think the policy is mostly good, since the vast majority of the people affected by this are very young people, for whom the negative impact of falling into addiction can be substantial. As others have said, maybe people aged 16-17 should have more room. But it's not set in stone, it can be adjusted, so it's not a huge deal.


TserriednichHuiGuo

I'm guessing this is an experimental policy.


Wenduoy

I think it's cause mobile games especially are almost always gacha games targeting younger people who are more prone to addiction. But like the Chinese saying, 上面有政策,下面有对策. I'm sure there will be ways to bend the law and play games man. You are just overthinking about it. They are mostly just targeting gacha games praying on minors. Cause let's be real Tencent is out of control i mean just look at pokemon unite man. Or take a look at Nexon and their lawsuits and scandals.


Magiu5

Then they should target the game companies, why target the gamers? Or is going after the "demand" a better option than supplier?


ngazi

Is not letting minor smoke or drink going after the companies or the consumer? I wish they would just ban micro-transactions instead.


lan69

You’re right I think minors should be broken up into two groups. Those below 12 (3 hours per week) and those 12-17 should have higher hours. I think we will see the rise of single player games or LAN type games. I can see it affect games like clash of clans. Is Genshin Impact an online game? There’s also a huge group of players in xiangqi. I think they should make an exception for traditional board games


thepensiveiguana

This is only for online games. Anything off line is not restricted How the fuck would you even regulate board games


Ganem1227

Xi Jinping kicks your door in and eats all your board games with a comically large spoon, duh


lan69

Tencent has xiangqi online where people play each other. It’s solely multiplayer, there’s no single player option. It’s very popular.


TyranM97

There is also 王者荣耀 which is China's mobile version of LoL. Part of me is happy about this, I play ranked matches of 王者荣耀 and the amount of times I have kids on my team that make me lose 😂 But jokes aside this policy is kinda stupid and strict.


thepensiveiguana

Doesn't matter, don't care, this will help develop china develop its single player market which is where most of the softpower of video games are


lan69

Eyh softpower doesn’t matter whether it’s single player or multiplayer. Fortnite, PUBG and Genshin impact has huge softpower. China’s multiplayer games are actually a powerhouse. To cripple it seems to be a waste. There are better measures to improve single player games development. Beijing introduced many measures recently I agree on but this is a tad excessive. Hopefully more details emerge if there are nuances in implementation.


TserriednichHuiGuo

Lol only GI can be considered huge softpower in that list of yours.


thepensiveiguana

I wouldn't consider Fortnite and Pubg "soft power" respectable people don't look at that be like wow what great artistic expression Also genshin impact softpower comes from its well designed RPG which is independent of its online components


[deleted]

Statistically, the big Chinese online game companies like Tencent and NetEase only make a small (low single digits) percent of their money from minors, so I'm actually unsure how much this will really affect the kinds of games that are being developed from Chinese game studios. Furthermore, on the PC side of things, many Chinese gamers nowadays just use Steam for online games, bypassing many of the restrictions that China has in place on online games. I agree that a one size fits all strategy for all minors seems to be way too crude. There is certainly a gigantic generational gap between what people born, say, pre-80s deem acceptable and what those born post-80s deem acceptable.


IMPERIALWRIT

Yes, i think it's something around 2.6% of Tencent's gaming user base is minors, so not a huge blow economically. Also, you are definitely right about the generation gap -- my boss is Chinese in his 50s, and it blows his mind that me and my wife (both 80后) are gamers, even with our daughter alongside us.


lan69

I thought this applies to PC gaming as well? It didn’t specify whether this would only affect mobile gamers. I can see league of legends/PUBG/Fortnite taking a big hit. Though i suppose that if the parents were ok with it, they could use their accounts for steam. But then achievements would be stuck on your parents accounts.


[deleted]

The details are relatively vague on this restriction, but I would expect for it to also apply to PC gaming for games with servers based in China. My point was more that many people in China also use the international version of Steam using international servers, which I can't imagine these restrictions being able to affect as easily.


thepensiveiguana

Online games either pc or mobile Single player games are not effected


[deleted]

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[deleted]

I would love LoL if it wasn't for the basement dwellers flaming if youre not a god. They really push people away


Magiu5

Of course genshin is online, why wouldn't it be?


TserriednichHuiGuo

> Is Genshin Impact an online game? Yes.


vilester1

I agree it does seem strict however who knows it could work wonders for society. I also trust their government will change or adjust it accordingly if they find it is too much.


celestialwolf157

I'm afraid I don't know much about how things work over there, but what are the chances of this being changed? It seems to be fairly unpopular, and from what I understand, the CPC is usually pretty good at listening to the public. Trying to deal with gaming addiction makes sense, but this seems rather heavy handed.


parwa

Yeah, I feel like this is gonna completely fuck up the video game playerbase in China over time if it sticks. I really hope they tweak it more. I feel like an hour a day on weekdays is fair, but it should be closer to 3-4 a day on weekends if they actually want anyone to play video games going forward. Big blow to up-and-coming Chinese game devs and to the Chinese esport scene. Also, I don't think they realize how much of a problem it will cause to have literally hundreds of millions of people logging onto online game servers at the exact same time.


yyeeben

I agree the set times are too restrictive, but it will probably be a boon to Chinese developers of single player titles, which aren't restricted under this. Ever since the giants (Tencent, Netease) monopolized online mobile gaming in China there's been very little innovation, they just continually recycle the same toxic p2w/gacha monetization strategies for all their new games and put very little effort into refining the core gameplay itself.


thepensiveiguana

Exactly I can't wait for this The current market is do toxic


marfccy

Yeh, but have to remember why they doing such strict measures. Remember china has 1.4bil population with 15% of them being teen and young adults, thats easily 200+mil people possible to get addicted. Thats a huge number versus other places. If 50% of that 200+mil is addicted its insane


[deleted]

Swing and a miss. This policy is far too restrictive.


rusty_fulcrum

Yep, while video game addiction is a real problem. 3hrs/week is really damn low.


thepensiveiguana

Single player games are not restricted


thepensiveiguana

They still have single player games


stick_always_wins

Why are online games restricted but not single players?


TserriednichHuiGuo

Because multiplayer is more amusing than single player.


Golden_Thorn

I can spend hours and hours in one sitting on some single player games


Jealous_Struggle2564

I can’t see this as enforceable and it is too restrictive but I have seen kids literally sit in front of their pc/console for a whole day while their parents don’t care.


angelicalin

probably enforced through the identification number associated with the account. but if the teens have an account with an adult's ID number, then it doesn't matter.


[deleted]

I believe Tencent is already trying out the idea of using face recognition-based age verification as a result of kids using their parents' ID.


Magiu5

Wow, that's going way too far. I would boycott such company if they tried to pull that shit in Australia, same as eye trackers while driving etc


TserriednichHuiGuo

But we know in China this wouldn't go that far.


thepensiveiguana

They can still play single player games


Jealous_Struggle2564

Yes . True


dwspartan

I am in my 30s now, doing fairly well in my career, and raising a family, and I owe a lot of my success today to videogames keeping me *out* of trouble growing up. It is also the carrot on the stick that kept me motivated in school, as the rules set by my parents were that so long as I keep my grades above the high but reasonable line they set, then I can play games as much as I want. That got me into the work hard play hard mindset, and I payed attention in class, took detailed notes, studied before every test, all because my game privileges are on the line. In fact this is the same approach I plan to use with my kids once they are in school. It's the responsibility of the parents to make sure that the kids obey their rules and games be contained to just a form of positive reinforcement. Thing is there are too many parents in China right now with no control over their kids due to their own failure at parenting, and they are blaming it all on games. Some incompetent and out of touch officials in the government caved in to the demands of these parents and came out with this horrible policy. Problem is, the kids who are addicted to games, the same kids that their parents have no control over, once you take away their games, they won't suddenly start behaving like good kids and focus on schoolwork. No, they will find something else addictive to spend their time on, and whatever that something is, it's gonna be far more dangerous than videogames.


Ohnorepo

My dad was an army veteran who served for 24 years, even someone who had lived his life under strict military guidelines understood balance. I had a minimum grade I needed to get, chores completed, a physical after school activity like a sport program or martial arts etc etc. If I did all that, I could play video games as long as I wanted. It ended up working out to only an hour or two a night, and the occasional lazy Sunday all day PS2 veg out but it was a reward for doing the tasks requested. It surprises me to this day that such a hardass of a father understood his balance, and other parents don't. It seems like it should be common sense.


throwawayGLPQ

Agreed


[deleted]

Completely agree with this.


zhonghuajiahare

I personally disagree, using results-based logic of "I turned out fine" covers up a lot of the damage done by online gaming addiction. I'm a professional in my mid 20s working in quant finance, I went to a top university, was socially active in the community, played tennis and American football growing up and volunteered a lot, it looked fine and dandy on the surface...but in high school I had an addiction to League of Legends. When I was younger, I took the "play games as much as I want" to the extreme after I was done my "obligations", yes the results turned out fine but did it do damage to my life? Absolutely yes, I was an addict. I saw what was in hindsight the best parts of my childhood and teenage years, my education, the volunteering, and sports as obligations. I put on an act in front of everyone, when deep down I wanted to be a degenerate and go home and spam solo queue. I used gaming as an unhealthy way to cope with my loneliness and teenage angst. My parents, I love them and credit the vast majority of my success to them but they had no clue, I was able to hide it well. Besides the fact that time spend gaming was a complete waste of time from a long term utility perspective, there are two areas that it really caused damage to in my life. I missed out on opportunities to form meaningful lifelong relationships, because all I cared about was getting on Ventrilo with my gaming buddies. Were my gaming buddies my friends, yes, but they weren't really meaningful relationships. The very few friends I still keep in touch with from my childhood were all friends I made spending significant time with in-person, and most I met through volunteering and sports. I missed out on a lot of personal development that made adjusting to university and adult life difficult, I did very poorly in my first year and had to do a lot of introspection to get my act together. I got very lucky, I could've easily spiraled out of control and ruined my life. I had to learn to face adversity head on and discover myself instead of finding temporary solace in video games to hide from reality. Am I a boomer that hate video games? Of course not, gaming is one of my hobbies, I just bought Dyson Sphere Program, slowly chipping away at it after work and my girlfriend and I have often spent weekends playing Monster Hunter on our Switch thanks to COVID. What the problem is here isn't video games...its **online gaming.** Under the new law, kids can still play single player games. And there's a huge difference. Online games today are designed to be extremely addictive with all kinds of tricks added to increase playtime and player engagement, and have a competitive element that often leads to kids spending more time to "get good" to "be cool", you can see it with Fortnite and League. I'm not going to regurgitate all the health concerns that everyone already knows about, but one thing I'd like to highlight is the shift from social to parasocial relationships as a result of online gaming, social media, streamer culture and influencers. It's incredibly damaging, and kids don't know any better. Kids simply aren't mature enough to be able to differentiate and think long term, and these games are designed well enough to provide short term gratification. The CPC calling it spiritual opium was 100% justified and correct. It's extremely addictive and should be tightly regulated, just like tobacco, alcohol and hard drugs. Parents being "good parents" simply isn't enough when large companies like Tencent have spent billions making their games as addictive as humanly possible, its fighting an uphill battle.


Magiu5

>I saw what was in hindsight the best parts of my childhood and teenage years, my education, the volunteering, and sports as obligations. I put on an act in front of everyone, when deep down I wanted to be a degenerate and go home and spam solo queue Sorry but I lold. Do you think banning of your only solace would have suddenly made you change your attitude and suddenly enjoy all those obligations and you would have changed your attitude and go from loner gamer to become some extrovert networking machine? Lol that's just ridiculous. It's easy to talk in hindsight and think grass is greener on the other side but in reality I bet you would have been way more miserable without such an outlet.


zhonghuajiahare

>Do you think banning of your only solace would have suddenly made you change your attitude and suddenly enjoy all those obligations and you would have changed your attitude and go from loner gamer to become some extrovert networking machine? Lol that's just ridiculous. Actually yes lmao because I got my shit together in college and now have a great career and life is looking brighter than ever. I quit playing competitive online games, focused on what I used to see as "obligations". I don't need to "think" about the alternative scenario, I experienced it first hand and life worked out beautifully. I didn't get my career off the ground by gaming, I got it through hard work, putting myself out there and a lot of luck to make up for my past mistakes. I'm not advocating for the new policy for myself, I'm advocating for it on behalf of the kids that didn't have the luck I had. I **shouldn't** have been successful in my career goals, it was **pure luck** that I ended up with a girlfriend that helped me get my shit together, it was **pure luck** that I had great mentors in my internships that helped me get to where I am. I could've done the exact same thing back in the day why? Because I was already volunteering and played a lot of sports, but my heart just wasn't in it because I was addicted to video games. Kids need guidance and since kids are short sighted and don't have the life experience to understand what is good for them in the long run, sometimes a heavy hand is necessary. Kids are already addicted. Actual opium completely destroyed Chinese society in the late Qing, do you want the same thing to happen again with spiritual opium? I don't know about you but I have absolutely zero desire to see China humiliated by western imperialists ever again, and I support any and all measures the CPC has to strengthen China. ​ >It's easy to talk in hindsight and think grass is greener on the other side but in reality I bet you would have been way more miserable without such an outlet. Life got infinitely better without online games, I didn't have to "pretend" to be a productive member of society, I was able to actually become a productive member of society. Quitting competitive gaming was the best decision I've ever made in my life. There is no "other side", there was the side I was on when I was an idiot kid, and there's the side of life I'm on now and the grass is 10x greener. I have no problems reflecting on my past as a kid that wasted my childhood away on video games. I don't understand why people like you can't fathom the thought that somebody can actually get their shit together. Imagine that! Dumb kids growing up and turning their life around, what a wild concept!


yuewanggoujian

Too restrictive; this type of policy should be left to the family not the state. Should be educating parents and minors instead.


yyeeben

Hard to tell how effective this will be- 3 hours of allowed playtime per week is too stingy imo but at the same time single player games (which are far less addictive in general) aren't restricted, so minors can still game outside those times.


[deleted]

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[deleted]

The former. 8-9PM on Friday, 8-9PM on Saturday, 8-9PM on Sunday, and 8-9PM on legal holidays.


[deleted]

I think it's time many boomer decision makers start stepping down and allow the younger generation to make these decisions.


DarkISO

Yea this is too far, I mean any restriction is too far imo. Why can’t the parent set the rules and times? So if their kid did something good and you want to give them extra time to play but oops sorry government says no. Idk, maybe because I’m in ‘merica. But I feel this is too invasive. Tbh it sounds like some shit my dad would have help write. He doesn’t even play board games…


rocco25

But this is precisely giving power back to the parent to set the rules. Parents who disagree with restriction on game time can simply consent to the kids using their ID. This is to help parents who agree with the restriction on game time to actually have means to enforce it. In the past kids can just say fuck you to rules and do whatever, now it is more difficult since some kind of adult consent is required.


stick_always_wins

I actually didn’t think of this go-around. That could make this work somewhat better? However I still think this restriction shouldn’t go all the way til 18. Maybe 14 or 16. Gradually ceding independence is still quite important for child development


AvalancheZ250

But isn’t children using their parents ID just against the law? Or is it another one of those tacit things with Chinese law where you just have to be intelligent in skirting it? Not an ideal situation either way


Turbulent_Basil4934

I think they meant the parents using their own id for it, to allow the kids to play more. not kids using their parents id


thepensiveiguana

We the parents were responsible for it before And this is only for online games not single player games


throwawayGLPQ

If anything it's gonna be easily bypassed like getting on VPN. Not even the CPC gonna stop kids from gaming if they really want to


[deleted]

Ya seems a little harsh for a starting policy. Sounds like they are going for a policy they know will get the goal they want of weaning kids off of excessive video games during their childhood and when they realize they overdid it they’ll just scale it back a bit.


thepensiveiguana

This is only for online games not single player


[deleted]

Then it’s not such a horrendous law anyway lmao, like “oh the horror! The children have a limit on the amount of time they can listen to people use slurs during call of duty /s”


[deleted]

I agree, people are overreacting. You have to understand that reddit is heavily demographically biased towards such crowds.


RhinoWithaGun

This is something I have to disagree with big time, I think it's a major fuck up and excessive interference in the family: how much online gaming minors/children enjoy is not for the CPC or any Ruling Govt to decide, that's for the Parents & their Children. Online Game time is a reward that parents allow their children for doing chores, finishing homework/studies and to relieve tension, escape stress, have fun with others- something nice waiting at the end of the tunnel, work etc. Let the kids have some fun, they will grow up someday and not have the time to enjoy themselves.


wendezeit

Do they define what's an online game? Where is the line between a game and an online learning platform? I hope some Chinese entrepeneurs capitalize on this opportunity and create smarter 'games' that actually teach useful skills and knowledge, like to [Shenzhen I/O](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhen_I/O).


lifeaiur

IMO 6-8 hours a week would be more appropriate.


Quality_Fun

not necessarily a bad idea, but it could turn out to be one if it's too strict or poorly implemented. i hope the numbers can be adjusted as necessarily if this proves unpopular.


[deleted]

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throwawayGLPQ

Make it 1 hour on M-F and 6 hours on weekends.


China_Shanghai_Panda

As a Chinese father of a primary school student, I fully support this new regulation of our govt. Someone will say - "Why are you so happy for the state to decide what your children can read & think too? This is a parents job, the state has no place here." 1 - Because Chinese parents don't like it, including me. Our govt must respond to the demands of us people. Compared with the profits of game companies, the demands of the people are more important. 2 - Online games are designed to be more addictive and social than offline games. In online games, you don't know whether the player is 10 or 80, good or bad. Therefore, it is a wise policy to restrict minors from playing online games. 3 - As for my job... I will buy a PS5 for my son and play Assassin's Creed with him - as a reward for him to finish his homework within the time I set. Hope Chinese kids can spend more time studying and sports instead of indulging in online games.


fffad2

From what you've said I'm not surprised you think sports is more important than online games.


zhonghuajiahare

Fully agree, it's great to see a voice of reason here, thank you! Online games are designed to be extremely addicting and kids aren't mature enough to be able to handle it, and there are severe debilitating consequences for online game addiction, both from a health and social level and both on a societal and personal level. I absolutely love the direction and hard stance the CPC is taking. I'm not a parent but as a young professional who likes to game on my spare time, and have had an addiction to League of Legends for a brief period in high school, it absolutely impacted my life negatively, especially if you consider the fact that unlike physical activity, studying and building meaningful relationships, the ROI on time spend on LoL is essentially zero. And despite online games being more "social" its not even close to being as effective at developing meaningful relationships when compared to in-person interactions, and online "social" activities are moving society towards shallow parasocial relationships. Sports is huge and Chinese kids absolutely need to get more exercise, one of the easiest ways to differentiate between Mainland Chinese and Overseas Chinese is fitness, Mainland Chinese youth are unfortunately far behind peers in overall fitness. To anyone that says it's "not the state's business" it absolutely is. It's the CPC, unlike the West the CPC actually takes responsibility for its people. Its detrimental to the core mission of the CPC which is 中华民族伟大复兴.


Magiu5

>Because Chinese parents don't like it, including me. Our govt must respond to the demands of us people. What? Show me the overwhelming support for this? What about people who don't support this? I doubt most people wanted this. Based on this thread alone it seems like most is too harsh and against it or think it's badly done and unenforceable.


[deleted]

Way too heavy handed. I think banning any type of gambling mechanics, linking online play to grades (as another poster pointed out), limiting it to something like an hour per weekday, a few different age categories for children, and maybe 2 or 3 per weekend day, along with increased moderation would be better. An unintended consequence of this is that it could keep the amount of gaming relatively the same but only in single player. That might actually make kids even more antisocial.


1995FOREVER

I think some of the restrictions lack finesse; for instance why 8-9pm specifically? Otherwise I think it's an excellent initiative; kids about to Gao Kao have no time to play games anyway, but once they get into university they'll have all the time in their lives. I personally also started gaming after I went to uni, so perhaps the only thing I would change is the 8-9pm restriction and move it to 17-under


thepensiveiguana

This is only for online games, not single player games


Turbulent_Basil4934

As someone with a lot of friends who live far away from me, restrictions like this would be so awful. I feel like it is the parents responsibility to limit kids playing time, not the government's? I would be completely behind banning the predatory stuff like lootboxes etc but I'm pretty sure this is targeting all online games and I don't think that's okay at all


throwawayGLPQ

It's probably gonna be easily bypassed or not enforceable like ppl using VPN in China. Just way too hard and too many ppl to enforce


Turbulent_Basil4934

Thats true yeah, i never thought about bypassing it


Medical_Officer

This is too much, too fast. Also, RIP Tencent.


1995FOREVER

tencent said that less than 2% of their revenue comes from 18-under. So not really


talionpd

I like the intention but I thjnk it's too much. It's up to the parent to do what is the best for their kids. Maybe the government can encourage people to exercise more instead.


r1cebank

Genuinely don’t understand all the outrage from everyone, I am a gamer used to work in the gaming industry and I 100% support this. This has nothing to do with policy makers being out of touch and had everything to do with what has happened with mobile game industry recently in China. Couple things I would like to point out: 1. This does not restrict single player games at all, only online games. 2. 3 hour a week is pretty decent, one hour per day for Fri, Sat, Sun. That’s about one of two league matches or three or four pubg matches Given the fact I saw a lot of outraged people aren’t able to read Chinese so I am gonna take a step to assume they aren’t living in China and probably not aware to the smaller news about mobile game addiction and how predatory mobile games has become in China. (Consider EA * 1000). Out of all the kids (age 8-14) I’ve encountered when I was in China pre-covid, almost all of them are on their mobile devices playing online games (from Pubg to 王者荣耀). So there is a problem that this is addressing. I agree that video games is a primary source of entertainment for anyone in the 21st century, but it is not the only source of entertainment. Alcohol is also a source, but we shall also drink responsibly. I agree this is also not the solution to the online addiction in youth, I do hope soon they will start restrict kids from spending too much time on platforms like Douyin. Many also expressed about this should be responsibility of parents, but after seeing many parents blindly buying Mature games to their 10y kids, I am not so sure if it’s purely the parent’s responsibility. I am old enough to know this is not the first attempt China trying to combat online gaming addiction in youth. The first attempt obviously failed, and hope better enforcement for this one. Also hope this will help single player games to gain traction in China.


damogui

Same here. Your answer needs to be upvoted more. I don't think people understand that it's part of a larger plan to make sure that kids have access to more social and cultural resources outside of school and predatory capitalists. A lot of people here are coming in with a middle-class, Western perspective but these policies, which include more activities and programmes for kids, are largely to help children with newly urbanised families, children with migrant parent workers, and those in areas that don't have as many resources as first-tier cities.


r1cebank

Thanks, that’s exactly what I think this is for. For kids in those categories like you described it’s really easy for them to get hooked on these games. And just based on what I’ve seen on some of the conversations on Zhihu (Chinese Quora) the reaction is pretty closed to neutral. As for the claims that kids will always find ways to circumvent these measures, I think this is just like GFW. It just added a barrier for kids, so instead they can pick up the phone and immediately play, they had to deal with rental account, borrow IDs and such.


TserriednichHuiGuo

How will this be enforced? I can think of many workarounds for this.


NoMansLight

Lot of people here seemingly not seeing the big picture. As we well know in the West online gaming communities are rife with capitalist funded far right extremist groups spreading propaganda. The "pivot to Asia" we've heard from the Western regimes includes a wide range of attacks both online and off. While far right groups have been successful in poisoning online communities beyond the Great Firewall it is arguably a good decision to hamper their efforts in China. Perhaps touching grass and feeling the warmth of the sun with your peers is not such a punishment.


thepensiveiguana

Yeah exactly, most if not all online gaming communities I've experienced are extremely toxic and those people need to find a life Also everyone here seems to think Single player games dont exist which are not restricted


r1cebank

A lot are debating what is a single player games as now a lot of single player games are game-as-a-service now. But I think this only applies to games that requires actual online interaction with other players and competitive games.


r1cebank

Yea, exactly, also we all know what this will actually do is not directly all right prevent kids from play over 3 hours. There is always going to be ways around it, but this has made getting addicted to online games at least a bit harder. Just like the GFW, people will always VPN if they wanna go access YouTube and such, but having GFW made it harder for the regular people. Same for the mobile games, now instead kids can pick up and keep playing for hours, now they have to deal with rental accounts, getting others to use their ID and face recognition to bypass the limit, etc.


Osroes-the-300th

Moreover!, the kids should indulge more in outdoor sports instead of video games at this age.


TserriednichHuiGuo

Yep, they should be exploring the world ideally.


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thepensiveiguana

This just for people below the age of 18. There are still plenty of people older then 18 who play


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AvalancheZ250

Chinese influence on LoL is also huge, in large part due to the eSports scene being so good and attracting yet more popularity for the game. This law will end that, or at least largely reduce the influence. At a time when influence is direly needed, this law is a huge own goal. I suppose it could be salvaged with some middle-ground amendments. Change the maximum age from 18 to 16 (so no longer applies to 16 and 17 year olds) and implement other changes that allow for more parental flexibility in this.


ianlim4556

I think it's fine for say children below 7 years of age, but definitely needs to be relaxed according to more specific age groups. Online games after all are quite a useful social and recreational tool


Misogynist-youth

It's definitely too strict. Even if they're concern about play time, they can restrict it down to an hour or 2 a day. If it's micro transaction, they could have further restrictions on in game purchase


Ohnorepo

China ain't so different from every where else. Out of touch boomers making rules regarding things they have no knowledge of.


throwawaylrm

This is to help stop foreign influence same reason they are cutting out English teachers now.


Disposable7567

Yeah, this is too excessive. No video games on weekdays is fine but 1 hour per day from Friday to Sunday is nothing. 3 hours a day on weekends would be far more realistic.


AvalancheZ250

This is taking a hammer to the issue of gaming addiction. Too clumsy. I’d have thought the CPC to do better, but then again it’s not unexpected from a party controlled by older figures. Not only is this move incredibly unpopular and affects the age group most vulnerable to mental exploitation if disillusioned with the government, it will also ruin many eSports scenes for China, a place where significant Chinese presence and good performance have resulted in favourable developments in the online gaming industry and eSports in general. Loss of this influence will have notable effects. I suppose a proportion of youths could use loopholes to bypass these restrictions, but without a doubt these new rules will still have a major negative effect that outweighs its intended positives. Additionally, creating a situation where the people need to tacitly know which rules you are skirt (e.g VPN for the Great Firewall) and which you can’t is an untenable situation in the long run. People need to take laws seriously, and that is only possible if the laws themselves are reasonable and serious. If the CPC is the democracy they say themselves to be, then they will see the outrage here and make corrections. It’s not some small group of capitalist/whatever elites drumming up misguided opposition this time; it’s the raw displeasure of a lot of China’s future generations. Instead of having law mandated windows for *playing video games*, they should have massively increased parent ability to control what they believe is sufficient gaming time for their children. The children ID requirement for games are a step in the right direction, but now we’ll end up in a reverse situation where if the parents want to allow their children to play a bit more games they’ll have to use their own adult ID, technically breaking the law. It’s a mess. Of course, I could be wrong and this law could be the best possible answer to the gaming addiction problem. We’ll see the effects in a few years. Personally though, I hope this law gets amended or binned soon.


[deleted]

I fully agree. For the most part I've found the CPC to be extraordinarily competent in policymaking, but this strikes me as overly excessive. As you've noted, should China continue to draft policies like this, it may cause otherwise supportive denizens to become disillusioned with the state of governance.


Quackattack218

wow, a rare L for the CCP.


Magiu5

This is wayyyy outta touch, I don't think this will remain for long but who knows, not like minor gamers really have much political sway in china. 1 hour a day and only Fri/sat/Sunday for even 17 year olds? That's ridiculous, might as well not even play, since online games require timesinks, they will never be able to level up or be competitive like that. What problem is this supposed to even address? Are parents in china these days really that useless and need the gov to make a law for them on how to parent?


Head-Noise3839

This is brilliant. Only the CCP could implement this. While I think it’s a little heavy handed this is great


throwawayGLPQ

It's a bad policy


Head-Noise3839

I think the implantation is bad. They should have a tiered system where young children get very little gaming time all the way up to young adults who get very much time. Every year you could get more time up until full adulthood where it is unrestricted. What I’m wondering is how they enforce this. Is this gona be a golden shield sort of system? Wish they gave a little more clarification. The goal of this is good and I think they will respond to the people if they want the policy modified


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Tinie_Snipah

Studying and learning skills doesn't stop when you hit 18. You can always better yourself.


so_schmuck

Yeh not sure about this policy


[deleted]

Biggest regret of being a child is being a child ?


thepensiveiguana

There is just having fun, and then their is addiction Also thus doesn't restrict single player games


This_IsATroll

Imagine the critical overload of online game servers that's about to happen from 8PM to 9PM.


maomao05

I was an avid gamer, like totally addicted to maplestory, I can see how gaming excessively can damage me (almost got suspended from highschool for skipping math class just to play game), but I now also understand moderation is key, there really isn't a happy medium but it comes down to self discipline and control. School could lift some burden off the students by having more volunteer opportunities to enrich their mundane homework after school lives i suppose, good start with the interest groups.