Tencent adding video game age restrictions, identity check in China

China is the world’s largest video game market and
Tencent is the world’s largest video game
publisher.
Reuters

• Tencent, the world’s largest video
  game publisher, will implement age restrictions for all of its
  titles in China in 2019.
• Player identities will be verified using China’s national
  citizen database and gamers under the age of 18 will have their
  playtime limited to one or two hours per day.
• Tencent is also testing facial identification software in two
  cities to assist with player verification.
• The mandatory verification and time limits arrive as Chinese
  officials consider new regulations to combat video game
  addiction.

Chinese video game publisher Tencent plans to implement age
restrictions for all of its games in China in 2019 and will
continue to use the country’s national citizen database to verify
player identities.

The new policy aims to limit playing time for children, as
Chinese officials continue to express concerns about video game
addiction. Tencent is the world’s largest video game publisher
and China is the world’s largest video game market, generating
more than $34 billion in annual revenue, according to NewZoo.

The rising popularity of video games has created a cultural clash
in the country, with critics arguing that gaming is an
unproductive and potentially addictive hobby for Chinese youth.
Since last year, regulators have slowly restricted the approval
of new games and prevented publishers from monetizing titles that
are already popular.

Read more:
China is cracking down on new
video games entering the country and it’s costing publishing
giants billions in profit

In a response to criticism and government recommendations,
Tencent began age-restricting playtime for its most popular game,
“Honour of Kings,” last year. Players under the age of 18 were
limited to playing just two hours a day, while those under the
age of 12 were limited to one hour a day. On Weibo, a Chinese
social media platform, the company announced it will soon expand
the policy to its top 10 most popular mobile games, and more
PC and mobile titles will get the same treatment next year.

Tencent recently announced
that all players will need to verify their identity using their
Real Name Identity System (RNIS) to play “Honour of Kings.”
According to research firm Niko Partners,
each player’s name and age is checked against the national
citizen database maintained by China’s Ministry of Public
Security. In September, Tencent also began testing facial
recognition software with thousands of randomly selected users
living in Beijing and Shenzhen.

While the verification system and age-limits are meant to address
the potential negative impact of video games on children, it
raises new questions about player privacy. “Honour of Kings”
alone has more than 200 million players, and Tencent is
documenting identifying information for every one of them to
verify with the Chinese government.

As it stands, gamers playing Tencent games outside of China
aren’t subject to the same strict verification process.