China is implementing a new online gambling restriction that will affect children and adolescents under the age of 18, it reports CNBC. Children will only be able to play online games for one hour a day (20:00 to 21:00) on weekends and public holidays. Gaming is prohibited on weekdays.
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Companies that provide online play services to minors will be required to comply with these rules and will not be able to offer games to children outside of these hours. Game providers must also register users with their real names and users must be logged in to play. Gaming companies are responsible for ensuring that minors do not access games outside of the time allowed.
The new rules are meant to safeguard children’s physical and mental health, and the national press and public administration said the guidelines address “the problem of child overuse” of online games. Previously, China had a restriction that limited play to 1.5 hours a day, but was allowed to play most days.
Tencent, a major gaming provider in China, said only a small portion of its gaming revenue comes from younger players. The company plans to implement the new requirements and, earlier today, expressed its support for the rules.
It’s unclear how these new rules will affect games running the App Store. Apple Arcade is not a factor, as it is not offered in China, but there are “App Store” games that require an online connection.
In 2016, China began requiring mobile game developers to officially license their games to the government, and in 2020, it pressured Apple to remove “App Store” games from non-compliant developers. Since then, Apple has extracted tens of thousands of games from the “App Store” in China.
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