China video gaming association says strict rules for minors must stay in place to combat long-term problem of addiction
- Video gaming industry association says levels of protection for minors need to be maintained and enhanced further
- Association’s comments come after an easing of approvals for new video gaming licences in China
China’s semi-official gaming industry association said that protecting children from the harmful effects of video gaming remains a “long-term” task that needs more work, three months after it declared an initial victory in reducing gaming addiction among minors.
“Adolescents have a strong awareness of the negative impact of games … and also have a certain sense of self -control while playing games,” said Ao Ran, secretary general of the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association, the semi-official body representing gaming companies in China, at a two-day annual conference held by the organisation on Monday in the southern city of Guangzhou.
However, the industry must “further improve the level of protection and bolster these measures” based on the results achieved to date, said Ao, as he summarised the latest report on “video game literacy” among young Chinese people.
“Minor protection is long-term and fundamental work, ” said Ao. “Our peers must resolutely implement the requirements of the regulators … and explore technical means, such as facial recognition.”
China approves 87 game licences in February as regulatory pressure eases
The National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA), which regulates online gaming in the country, has implemented a series of measures since August 2021 to tackle gaming addiction among teenagers, including limiting gaming time for players under 18 to between 8pm and 9pm on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and statutory holidays.
Ao’s remarks, which come three months after the association released a report declaring an initial victory in its fight against gaming addiction, indicate that these tough rules will likely remain in place despite other signs that industry regulation is easing in China.
More than 75 per cent of gamers in China aged under 18 have limited their playing time to three hours a week, indicating how the “gaming addiction problem” of minors in the country has been “basically solved”, the association said in the November report.
Tencent Holdings, operator of the world’s largest gaming business by revenue, promised to double down on its anti-addiction measures.
“Tencent Games will continue to explore more innovative forms of protection for minors,” said Zheng Zhong, a senior director at Tencent’s division responsible for protecting minors, at the conference on Monday.
The level of “video game literacy” among Chinese adolescents varies by gender and region, according to the report, which is co-authored by the Game Publishing Committee, an agency under the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association, and the Gaming Industry Research Institute of China.
Men tend to have higher “video game literacy” than women in China, while underdeveloped regions, including some Western and Northeastern areas in the country, had a relatively low score for gaming literacy, the report said.
Ao noted that it is not just the responsibility of gaming companies to protect minors against gaming addiction, and that parents must also do their part.
The NPPA, which is also in charge of licensing video games in the country, has started to grant more approvals for new titles since late last year. In the first two months of 2023 it has approved 175 new video game licences, nearly one-third of the total number approved in 2022.
A November commentary by the People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s official mouthpiece, described video gaming as an industry of “great significance to the country’s industrial layout and technological innovation”, in a change of tone from a previous commentary that described it as “spiritual opium”.
