How kids in China defy anti-addiction systems to play games: fake IDs and smartphone arcades

Fake IDs, smartphone arcades, and pretending to be a grandparent are just some of the ways kids are avoiding China’s strict anti-addiction system for games

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China started regulating access to games for minors in 2007, but kids have been finding ways to dupe the system. (Picture: Reuters)

Published: 8:00am, 29 Jun 2020Updated: 11:28am, 29 Jun 2020

China has some of the strictest gaming regulations in the world. The government has long argued that it has to protect minors from gaming addiction, and it’s done so by pushing companies to limit anyone under 18 years old to just 90 minutes of gameplay a day – or three hours on holidays.

But this hasn’t stopped kids from playing their favourite games and racking up huge bills from in-game spending. It’s become such a big problem that state new agency Xinhua published an article this week accusing gaming firms of deliberately turning a blind eye to the situation.

As regulations get stricter, though, kids are finding more creative workarounds. But the phenomenon itself isn’t exactly new. Daniel Ahmad, gaming analyst at Niko Partners, says that kids have been learning new ways to game the system ever since real-name registration systems were introduced in 2007.

“Due to technical limitations, there have always been loopholes that allow minors to enter fake information, buy adult accounts or use their parents’ account to bypass restrictions,” Ahmad said.

High demand from young gamers has now created a cottage industry dedicated to supplying minors with fake adult credentials for real-name registration. And purchasing these credentials is as easy as searching on e-commerce platforms like Alibaba’s Taobao or Xianyu. Those who don’t want to buy their own credentials can just show up to a smartphone arcade – a place similar to an internet cafe where kids can play games to their heart’s content for just 1 yuan (US$0.14) an hour.

(The South China Morning Post is owned by Alibaba.)

How kids in China defy anti-addiction systems to play games: fake IDs and smartphone arcades

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Fake IDs, smartphone arcades, and pretending to be a grandparent are just some of the ways kids are avoiding China’s strict anti-addiction system for games

Fake IDs, smartphone arcades, and pretending to be a grandparent are just some of the ways kids are avoiding China’s strict anti-addiction system for games