China sets new limits on kids’ gaming time to three hours per week

China has announced a further crackdown on the amount of time children can play online video games, with the new limit set to just three hours per week.

The previous limit had been generally capped at 1.5 hours per day in 2019.

The added restriction is likely to impact the share price of companies in this space, which has seen recent instability.

Earlier this month, Tencent was forced to cut the time minors could play the smash hit mobile title Honor of Kings to just an hour on weeknights and two hours on the weekend.

Other new rules include companies keeping (real) name data for all users, more reporting on the use of in-game transactions, and more regulatory scrutiny more generally.

South Korea declared that it would ditch its infamous “Cinderella Law,” banning video gamers from playing between midnight and 6am a week ago, saying that it is respecting children’s rights. 

China forbids minors from gaming more than three hours per week

Tencent and NetEase can only offer online gaming to minors from 8pm to 9pm on Fridays, weekends and holidays.

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