China announced Monday that it is banning minors from playing video games during the school week and can only play for an hour on Fridays, weekends and holidays. The new rule comes from China’s video game regulator, the National Press and Publication Administration, which did not respond to requests for comment. The policy took effect Wednesday.
China has established extensive rules about minors and playing video games in the past after blaming games for causing nearsightedness and addiction in youth. In 2019, the government announced that gamers younger than age 18 had to stop playing between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. and only game for 90 minutes on weekdays.
In 2018, Beijing stopped approving video games for publication for nearly nine months, hurting the bottom line for massive Chinese companies like NetEase and Tencent. The Chinese government plans to enforce the ban…
