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Chinese govt fights online addiction

New law limits kids' online time to three hours a day; games which don't comply will be closed down.

The Chinese government has issued a new regulation, which will come into effect on April 15, requiring "anti-addiction software" to be installed on the country's massively multiplayer online games. The move is designed to limit online play by under-18s, reports China Daily.

The move comes amid growing concerns in the region about the number of youngsters playing truant from school and turning to crime, which the government links to the growing popularity of online games within the age group. According to the newspaper, there are a massive 31.12 million online gamers in China, with approximately 10 percent of those aged under 18.

The new system will require all gamers to register using real names and identity card numbers to prove their age. Young users will be allowed to play for three hours per day, which is apparently considered the "healthy" limit, and full points will be allowed during this time period. Between three and five hours, gamers will still be allowed to play, although points will be halved. After five hours, a message will be displayed every 15 minutes warning players that they are risking their health and that their points will be reset to zero if they continue to play.

Games that have not embedded the system by the cutoff date of July 16 will be shut down.

Zhao Yurun, China spokesperson for the popular MMOG World of Warcraft, told the newspaper that the company was not concerned about the new legislation because the majority of its players were adults.

205 Comments

  • AresTheImmortal

    Posted Jun 24, 2010 10:17 am GMT

    I love this statement "The move comes amid growing concerns in the region about the number of youngsters playing truant from school and turning to crime, which the government links to the growing popularity of online games within the age group." comparing online video games playing to crime lol. And whats the points they talking about?

  • Gelugon_baat

    Posted Jun 23, 2010 9:39 pm GMT

    Where I live, governments and GLCs use much more subtle and hard-to-criticize methods to moderate time spent on MMOs - having a lousy infrastructure for the playing of MMOs, and much higher service charges for bandwidth used by MMOs.

  • Gigas_Yuu

    Posted Jun 23, 2010 9:04 pm GMT

    Send an army of Fallout 3 Mr. Gutsy robots to China. Problem...solved?

  • cjcr_alexandru

    Posted Apr 23, 2007 8:10 am GMT

    "they are limiting girls and gaming entertainment to all young males"

    You must be kidding, kappareign... or I hope so.

  • kappareign

    Posted Apr 13, 2007 2:43 am GMT

    chinese law only allows... or allowed, 1 girl per household. due to this there is a massive surplus of single men in that country. most gamers are men....... so if i get this right: they are limiting girls and gaming entertainment to all young males... the more they try to control the people the worse it will get

  • Shoal

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 2:51 pm GMT

    Be mad at me all you want, but I think that's an awesome law. MMOGs are too addictive and someone needed to do something about it. Go China! I'm an American MMOGamer and certainly wouldn't mind a law like that passed here -- even for adults!

  • norabbitnofun

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 11:52 am GMT

    Reminds me of the fact that a lot of these youngsters are actually playing online not because of psychological addiction but financial addiction. They level-up characters to sell them out to other players (lazy enough / not having time to level-up). I guess though not stating it explicitly, the law may be intended towards fighting this commerce...

  • gamesbeater

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 11:11 am GMT

    Stupid government thank god am not chinese .. why do chinese government intervene in everythin'.. dumb government

  • Mr_Utruni

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 10:45 am GMT

    Deaths-Reaper--

    Your ignorance disgusts me. If you want to go on a rant about how the rest of the world is better than the U.S.A, at least learn some proper grammar so people will take you seriously.

  • Purvis11

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 10:11 am GMT

    Woah! Death-Reaper, I'm not even American, but where is the love.

    Calm down just a little.

  • dmn_link

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 10:07 am GMT

    Deaths-reaper.

    Besides all your unnecessary insults to Americans, i get your point, but i don't agree with you. Cause at the end of the day, parents should be the ones to decide what their kids can and cannot do, etc., not the government.

  • petrnorth18

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 9:42 am GMT

    silly communists

  • radbytrade

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 9:27 am GMT

    Deaths-reaper,

    Spoken...and written...like a true DBZ fan.

  • ahyumifan

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 8:57 am GMT

    chinese government never sieze to do pathetic thing to their people... I feel very sorry for Chinese people (who live in China ofcourse)

  • iory2

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 8:23 am GMT

    China comunism = American Fascism Any of them only look forward to control more everything u do this new law its ridiculous soon ull have to be 21 to play super mario please, everyone trys to blame everything for the societys problems video gaming its just another thing to blame (ofcourse governaments are not the problem games are) hahah

  • Poshkidney

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 7:33 am GMT

    i blame comunisum

  • cajunXLVII

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 7:30 am GMT

    commies

  • gibsongirl

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 7:12 am GMT

    "Don't worry...some new and greater menace will come along and everyone will forget about the incredible evil that are video games."
    --radbytrade

    true enough.

  • radbytrade

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 6:40 am GMT

    Couple things...There are claims by the Chinese government that video game playing and "addiction" encourage crime, truancy, etc. This is no different from what a significant portion of American lawmakers and members of the so-called "moral majority" claim as well. Throughout recent history, and I'm sure beyond, there have been cases of this sort of thing happening. Cars were vilified because the potential was there that people would be driving out of town on Sundays instead of going to church. Radio and television were labeled menaces because they kept people inside all day. I don't think I even need to mention music. Hysteria and panic over the latest mainstream technology-based media phenomenon will always be there...until something bigger, brighter, and better comes along. Look up the nationwide averages of how long the average American watches television per week. I can assure you it's a hell of a lot longer than how long the average American plays video games. The amount of questionable content shown on television dwarfs anything the video game industry has put out and yet there's no call to arms or panic...anymore. The powers that be are now content and understanding of the medium and no one can pry the boob tube from their grubby fingers. Don't worry...some new and greater menace will come along and everyone will forget about the incredible evil that are video games.

    People who commit crime or can't function at a level that can sustain them in society are predisposed towards those traits through a combination of bad parenting and mental imbalance. You can integrate yourself into the world with one or the other, but the deck sure is stacked against you if it's both. It's been shown that television and radio aren't turning kids into homicidal maniacs. The same is, of course, obvious about video games. Society's ills could be fixed much faster if those in power stopped looking for scapegoats and instead started actually addressing what was wrong.

  • kakashi_00x000

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 6:02 am GMT

    now there blaming MMORPGs on crime...only 10% were under 18...maybe other things cause kids to comit crimes....like bad parenting.

  • jizayjizay

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 5:52 am GMT

    3hrs a day is reasonable and a good limit for someone to play games i think.... especially if they are under 18... moderation is good...and the article states that you can actually play up until 5 hours until a warning will come up every 15min. i am guessing most of you peole are under 18?

  • HACHET_MAN1

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 5:42 am GMT

    THAT SUCKS!!!!!!!! HATE TO IN CHINA NOW

  • theKSMM

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 5:40 am GMT

    I'm amused to see so many people taking digs at China. Like your government is so flawless.

  • OldWiseBob

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 4:23 am GMT

    Glad to be an American.

  • LordelX

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 3:58 am GMT

    Hmmmm...it sucks that the Chinese governments regulates people's gaming time, but at the same time....the timeframes they've outlined is not totally unreasonable.

  • Decibyte

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 3:44 am GMT

    I may take a lot of flack for it, but I see no harm in this. There are different human rights in different places, so stop spamming that it's against rights please. I do agree that it is a form of oppression, but I also agree that violence can warp the minds of people who have not yet physically matured. And by this I don't mean those of you who are tweleve and think you're mature because you can swear and know racist remarks. I wish they would do something to enforce the age requirements elsewhere. You say it's wrong to do it, but all across the world the games are rated, many above 18 years and parents let their 8-15 year olds play FPS games and many of these children are the rudest most ignorant people I've ever met. It's about time somethings being done and if you HAVE to play more than 3 hours a day, you've got a problem. Video game addiction is a growing threat to many people, myself included, and it affects the same parts of the brain as many drugs. Even though you may not be putting harmful substances into your body, over three hours a day of gaming along with sleep and school doesn't leave much time for physical exercise and is bad for the body. Think about it before you judge.

  • Mr_Saturn26

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 3:39 am GMT

    well that sucks, i would tell the goverment to go to heck, actully i would somehow go around the dang warning crap, and mess with the system and game so i could go around it. well sucks for them.

  • bingbashbosh

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 1:38 am GMT

    This is totally not fair and against human rights and now im P***** cuz some of the best players are chinese people. and they do this so that people work more and they can make the gov more money......S****

  • MasterAsh42

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 12:18 am GMT

    I may be opening myself to criticism concerning ignorance here, but I believe it's suppressive moves like this which draw so many in China to socially-driven online games.

  • Timstuff

    Posted Apr 11, 2007 11:43 pm GMT

    Maybe if it were legal to have siblings in China, online addiction wouldn't be a problem.

  • kavadias1981

    Posted Apr 11, 2007 11:13 pm GMT

    I'm not suprised people in China go online so much. I would want to escape that Communist Hell as much as I could also.

  • jogunther

    Posted Apr 11, 2007 11:11 pm GMT

    Although most of the gamers are adults "90%", thats a clear infringment of right's.

  • CyphenX

    Posted Apr 11, 2007 10:45 pm GMT

    See? This is what happens when Captain America is gone.

    Go capitalism and democracy!

  • Amakare

    Posted Apr 11, 2007 10:02 pm GMT

    Glad I don't live in China. Even though I am eighteen years old, and from what I understood, I can play as long as I want to.

  • AgostonF

    Posted Apr 11, 2007 9:45 pm GMT

    Hahahahahahaha that's so horrible, they're screwed!!

  • stoutlad

    Posted Apr 11, 2007 9:23 pm GMT

    I'm so glad to live in a Democratic, Capitalist society.

  • feanorkms

    Posted Apr 11, 2007 9:05 pm GMT

    Not to mention China's incredibly low wages...
    When they fix that, they will truly be a world power.

  • feanorkms

    Posted Apr 11, 2007 9:02 pm GMT

    Games are again unfairly labeled a cause for problems in a country. It's all bull, it's like the US cases where you have a mentally ill kid killing people, and the news blames the "violent" and "addictive" video games they play. ITS THE PARENTS!!!!

    I don't think it's bad to have amount of time to spend online, but do it for the right reasons like promoting health, and physical activity. Video Games don't cause crime China, your lack of human rights for your basic citizens does.

  • Kfoss

    Posted Apr 11, 2007 8:53 pm GMT

    wow thats about the most ridiculous thing ive ever heard...so what stops a bunch of kid using the identities of adults. or rather sealing the identities of adults..hell welcome to underground identity theft central..don't they know that when you try to induce more control over a population you only create organized crime...what a load of ****

  • Solidsnake10S

    Posted Apr 11, 2007 8:39 pm GMT

    isnt communism just awesome.

  • robfield

    Posted Apr 11, 2007 8:25 pm GMT

    Ah, yes, communism

  • GhostStalkerX1

    Posted Apr 11, 2007 8:07 pm GMT

    well when it comes to obiseity, stop putting so many callories into food problem solved. why cant food be like the kind in Star Treck were its a replia of food but with all the bad **** cut out. And yes i like star treck big woop you wanna fight about it.

  • alberto2045

    Posted Apr 11, 2007 7:42 pm GMT

    wow and we say we have a hard time with this people that come up complaining aobut games once in a while

  • gamboy131

    Posted Apr 11, 2007 7:37 pm GMT

    I understand that they are trying to make a difference but this is just going to make it worse because kids are automatically going to want to rebell against this policy.

  • pwnr

    Posted Apr 11, 2007 7:07 pm GMT

    That's completely reasonable considering the fact that several people have died from others playing WoW too much.

  • lebanese_boy

    Posted Apr 11, 2007 6:51 pm GMT

    Well I think it's a good thing because online play addiction isn't good for minors.

  • Pete5506

    Posted Apr 11, 2007 6:36 pm GMT

    Wow that is so odd.....

  • dybbuk

    Posted Apr 11, 2007 6:36 pm GMT

    haha...hey priority mail that was funny, I liked that. Hey bigpimppappa in addition to what you said I also think(speaking as a parent with kids) that they need to stop limiting PE and other physical activities at school. The first thing they want to do when disciplining kids is to limit or take away their recess or PE time. Then people complain that kids are to heavy. We also need to stop removing physical activity from our school system in favor of more academics. Being active and healthy is just as important, in the long run, as an education. Believe me I see the amount of work my kids do, they have plenty of work, way more than I did at their age.

    China China China your no fun....if you must intervene then you should try targeting the root cause of the issue....their parents!!!!!

  • ArfenZard15

    Posted Apr 11, 2007 6:00 pm GMT

    That's good old fashioned communism in effect there!

    Good luck getting it to stick!

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