Tencent To Verify IDs To Curb Gaming Addiction In Children

Tencent, the Chinese tech giant that has produced some popular games including PUBG, CrossFire, and Ring Of Elysium, has decided to verify the IDs and ages of the players under 12 to encourage healthy gaming habits.

The new verification system will limit the playing time of young Chinese (under-12) gamers to one hour daily, and the players between the age of 13 and 18 will be limited to two hours. Players will be allowed to play between 8 AM and 9 PM

Data will be matched against the records held by the national police to identify the ages. The limitation will apply to the ten mobile games by Tencent by the end of this year. The company has plans to impose the restrictions on all its titles by 2019.

With 600 million gamers across the country, these restrictions will require the company to check the IDs of a large number of people.

Chinese state media and the authoritarian government is already critical of video games because of their violent content and addictiveness.

“Minor protection is an important task that the whole society pays close attention to. [Tencent] has a high degree of responsibility and obligation,” said the company, according to WSJ.

The company imposed restrictions on its popular game title “Honor Of King” which has an enormous popularity in the country. The game’s addiction led many students to wake up till late night and skip their homework.

China is not the first country to have such a restriction to curb the gaming habits. South Korea had implemented the age restrictions on video games, several years ago.

Also Read:Kids Can Learn Coding With This $299 ‘Hack’ Laptop In A Fun Way