Video games have always been a means of entertainment, they offer their players many positive things in addition to entertainment, but as with everything in life, if used too much they can cause negative effects. That is why China last year introduced a plan to combat the addiction of minors to these games and this week they were able to learn about the effect these measures have had, which seems to have been effective.
Chinese authorities are known to intervene directly in the lives of their citizens, so when it was discovered that minors were spending more and more time playing video games and neglecting other activities, the government decided to roll out a plan to change this situation.
It was in August 2021 when the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA), in charge of controlling and licensing in this sector, extended its plan which consisted of limit all children under 18 to three hours of video games a week.
The limit allowed to minors play from 20:00 to 21:00 on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, but the rest of the time it was forbidden. And how was this Tuesday known South China Morning Post through a publication of the game publishing committee of China Audio and Video and Digital Publishing Association this practice worked.
The results indicate it 75% of young people have reached the limit of three hours of video games per week, significantly reducing the time spent. However, of the thousands of parents interviewed (the authorities did not provide specific figures), 72% say that video games have not affected their children’s studies or personal lives.
These measures appear to be effective, as Chinese citizens under the age of 18 are reducing the amount of time they spend playing console games, however, it is the video game industry that is suffering right now.
While the developers are helping the authorities comply with the new regulations, they are including facial recognition in their titles to detect minors or set reminders for the proper fulfillment of this, the market situation was bad.
But not only for the usage time limit, but also for the difficulties in obtaining licenses (granted by the government) and due to the censorship of some contents. Even so, it appears that the country will strive to revive this sector only during they granted up to 70 new licenses last week.
