The Chinese giant Tencent has taken a step to curb the apparent addiction to gaming in minors. The company announced this week that it will be limiting the number of hours that minors play the game with specific timeline in accordance to age.
The role playing game Honor of Kings, which is the highest grossing mobile game in the world, is the subject of these limitations. The restrictions will be for individuals below the age of 18. People who are below the age of 12 will be allowed to play an hour, a day and will not be allowed the same after 9 pm. Whereas players from the age of 12 to 18 will be allowed to play for two hours a day.
“There are no rules to prevent indulgence in mobile games in China but we decided to be the first to try to dispel parental worries by limiting play time and forcing children to log off,” said Tencent in a WeChat post, according to Reuters, following which the company’s share dropped by 5.1 per cent.
It is however not clear if the imposition would be active in China or other countries as well. Back in 2011, South Korea had implemented a similar rule, according to which individuals under the age of 16 were not allowed to play popular titles from 12 am to 6 am.
Another issue which Tencent might be looking at is to control how the in-app purchases are made. A lot of times, kids use their parents’ credit cards to spend a lot of money into in-game purchases. Now everyone has to register to the game with their original credentials, failing which will the individual be considered under the age of 12.
While this move has got mixed reactions, it will take some time before the effects of this move can be gauged.
