Current Events > Is it true in China under 18 y/o can only play online games 1 hr a day?

(+) Yeah! (+)

It's against the law except Fri,Sat, Sun and public holidays between8-9 pm? @_@

damn that sucks. i would have hated that as a kid and maybe teen (altho i didnt game much as a teen really)

Yup. China's esports scene is decapitated unless that changes. And their scene was projected to bring in 25 billion USD.

For online games following Chinese regulations this is true (3 hours a week, with facial recognition to confirm the child isn't using someone else's account). The reality, and this far predates the new rules, is most gamers in China don't use Chinese game services. They use a VPN to connect to international Steam, PSN, Nintendo eShop, etc. And play unrestricted international games. You probably play online games with Chinese gamers. That's not possible on actual released in China according to regulation games. They aren't allowed on international servers.

I haven't been back to China since after the pandemic, but there was definitely still little to no barriers during the pandemic. My wife and her parents were stuck in Wuhan longer than me because they couldn't take an evacuation flight. They didn't return to Japan for months (and actually now you cannot return to Japan at all if you are overseas). But my wife got Animal Crossing (not released in China), and played FFXIV on Japanese servers no problem using a VPN during that time. It's extremely widespread.

I wonder if China will try and make consoles always online over there to limit video game playing entirely.

ForsakenHermit posted...

I wonder if China will try and make consoles always online over there to limit video game playing entirely.

It doesn't matter, because they aren't buying Chinese consoles. The Chinese Switch can only play Chinese approved games, so no one wants one. They just import one.

geez

ssjevot posted...

It doesn't matter, because they aren't buying Chinese consoles. The Chinese Switch can only play Chinese approved games, so no one wants one. They just import one.

Seems like something they will eventually crack down on it it's as widespread as you say

Smackems posted...

Seems like something they will eventually crack down on it it's as widespread as you say

If you look up rule of law rankings by country China usually ranks near the bottom. There are a lot of laws that are poorly, arbitrarily, or just not enforced. It's not the police state people imagine in most respects. There are a small subset of crimes they take seriously (usually related to things that could be a threat to the government), and using a VPN and/or importing games isn't one of them. It's not uncommon to find stores blatantly selling games not approved for sale out in the open.

Sadly not true, but would be extremely based

Probably. Stupid shit like that happens when you start letting your government tell you what's good for you.

ssjevot posted...

3 hours a week, with facial recognition to confirm the child isn't using someone else's account

it's like a german conservative's wet dream

Thailand, South Korea, Singapore etc. also restrict minors access to online gaming. There's also no such thing as anonymous internet usage. Your online accounts must be tied to your Government ID.

I had a worse rule as a kid
No video games at all during the week

ExtremeLuchador posted...

Thailand, South Korea, Singapore etc. also restrict minors access to online gaming. There's also no such thing as anonymous internet usage. Your online accounts must be tied to your Government ID.

South Korean's Government ID, were not exactly "secure"..... the Prime Minister had like 50,000 MMORPG accounts, and 2600 Gambling accounts. Which obviously, he didn't.

Yeah like ssj said its not really enforced/its trivial to get around. My understanding is it was largely intended to stop predatory micro-transaction games from targeting children but it seems poorly thought out and even more poorly implemented; not a fan of it.

I knew a lot of folks who couldn't even watch TV on school nights let alone gaming/internet.

Shablagoo posted...

Yeah like ssj said its not really enforced/its trivial to get around. My understanding is it was largely intended to stop predatory micro-transaction games from targeting children but it seems poorly thought out and even more poorly implemented; not a fan of it.

Funny, pretty sure you were praising it when the news first came out

AablMind posted...

Sadly not true, but would be extremely based

We love totalitarianism when its colored red

Indoril posted...

We love totalitarianism when its colored red

No, we love totalitarianism when it's directed at g*mers