Tencent to limit play time for children

Tencent Holdings, China's biggest gaming and social media firm by revenue, said it will limit play time for some young users of "Honour of Kings", responding to complaints that children were getting addicted to the popular mobile game.

Parents and teachers have complained that children were becoming addicted to the multiplayer online battle game, which, according to the company, has more than 200 million users, mostly in China, and is the top-grossing mobile game in the world.

From Tuesday, users below 12 years of age will be limited to one hour of play time each day, while those aged between 12 years and 18 years will be limited to two hours a day, Tencent said. Tencent did not say whether the limits will be imposed only in China or elsewhere too.

The firm also plans to ban users under 12 years from logging in after 9pm (1300GMT) and will impose further restrictions on how much money younger users spend on the game, it added.

The fantasy role-playing game based on Chinese historical characters is the world's top-grossing game by worldwide iOS + Google Play revenue in May, according to mobile data intelligence firm App Annie's latest monthly index. It grossed on average $84 million per month on iOS in China in the first five months of the year, App Annie data showed.

More than half of its users are below 24 years of age, including more than a quarter below 19 years, according to Chinese mobile data firm Jiguang.

The game, which involves violence, became the subject of controversy after Chinese media reports in recent months of serious addiction to it among young people.

"There are no rules to prevent indulgence in mobile games in China, but we decided to be the first to try to dispel parental worries by limiting play time and forcing children to log off," Tencent said on its official WeChat account.

Source: Khaleej Times