Young Chinese gamers face time limit

ALL-NIGHT gaming marathons will soon end for some Chinese kids – internet giant Tencent began limiting daily playing times on its smartphone smash hit King of Glory yesterday to ensure children’s healthy development.

Young players will be restricted to one or two hours on the mobile online multiplayer battle game, which boasts 80 million daily users, as concerns grow in China that long periods online are posing a serious threat to the country’s youth.

But investors are not playing around – shares in Tencent, which ranks first in the world for gaming revenue, slumped 4.13% yesterday – its biggest single-day drop since February last year.

“The limits on the game King of Glor y is part of the reason for the [shares slump] today,” Hong Kong-based senior strategist for South China Research Limited Sam Chi Yung said.

“This will affect Tencent’s earnings eventually as players would buy equipment and stuff when they played the game.”

King of Glory became the world’s highest grossing game this year, with an estimated first-quarter revenue of about 6 billion yuan (R11.6-billion), according to the Xinhua state news agency.

About 24 million young people in China are estimated to be internet addicts.

State media reported in April that a 17-year-old gamer in southern Guangdong province suffered a type of stroke after spending 40 consecutive hours playing King of Glory.

Editorials in the People’s Daily on Monday and yesterday called on gaming platforms like Tencent to be aware not only of the markets, but also of their responsibilities to society.

Users 12 years of age and younger are now limited to one hour of play a day, and will not be permitted to sign in after 9pm, Tencent said.

Users aged between 12 and 18 are limited to two hours per day.