Manufacturers introduce limits: In China, video games are only available for two hours a day

  "Beijing is publicly discrediting digital and video game companies. They are now trying to protect themselves - and are passing the pressure on to their young customers. 

The outrage is great. It is the last summer vacation for Zhang Yuchen before secondary school begins - but he can hardly enjoy it. The time the 14-year-old can spend playing video games has been drastically cut. 

Chinese game manufacturers want to counter the accusation that they are selling “intellectual opium” to China's youth. 

A decision by the video game giant Tencent has since prevented players under the age of twelve from making purchases in the multiplayer hit "Honor of Kings". For all players under the age of 18, there is also a maximum playing time of two hours during the holidays and one hour on school days. 

 "I could have howled," says Zhang, remembering how the news hit China, the world's largest video game market. In the first half of 2021 alone, the equivalent of 17 billion euros was made there. "That they limited the playing time over the holidays means that I can no longer play as much Honor of Kings as I like," says Zhang. 

A trillion dollar market value wiped out 

The changes are a response from game makers to allegations made by the state. The state authorities have now discovered the game industry in their crackdown on technology companies that may be too powerful. Investor reaction: stocks of game makers like Tencent, NetEase, XD Inc and Bilibili were sold - despite the size of the market. 

The government's approach is not just limited to game manufacturers: online retail and online service giants such as Meituan and Alibaba are also having to give up on the stock markets. Alibaba's price fell 4.3 percent to a new record low in Hong Kong on Thursday. Shares fell after Beijing announced it was considering proposals to further secure the rights of drivers who work for online businesses and strengthen oversight of the live streaming industry. 

In total, the government's actions have destroyed around a trillion dollars in the market value of Chinese companies in the past few months. Some analysts believe the response to government coverage of video games is excessive. "Investors made it a big story because they overreacted," says Ether Yin of consulting firm Trivium China. "Preventing children from becoming addicted to video games has been a common policy since 2018." 

Parents welcome the restrictions 

But in order to forestall public criticism, Yin does not consider it unlikely that other manufacturers will introduce similar rules for playing times and purchases in video games. The impact for Tencent will probably remain minimal for the time being - only 3 percent of gross income is attributable to customers under the age of 16. 

Even bystanders fall victim to Tencent's new youth protection regulations: When the twelve-year-old son of the programmer Peng Jianfei used his account to play “Honor of Kings”, the account was accidentally blocked. "I think such measures can help to a certain extent to reduce the screen time of children," says the 45-year-old. "But if I can't play Tencent's games, I can still go to NetEase, right?" 

Other parents, however, welcome the restrictions. "When children play video games too much, it's bad for their eyes," says a 34-year-old mother in Beijing. Her ten-year-old son and big Honor of Kings fan sees it very differently: “Mom, say that was a bad decision! Why are they doing that? ""