At the end of August, China introduced a new policy that allows minors to play video games for only three hours during the week and only one hour on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. However, one week into September, people have reportedly found a workaround that gives younger players a way back.
The People's Daily reported that Tencent has sued more than 20 e-commerce sites for renting and trading accounts for Honor of Kings, a popular free online mobile game. Rental accounts are available for two hours starting at 33 yuan, which is just over $5.
In-game Tencent has created a system that requires you to use your real name when registering. But minors don't need to worry about new time limits by renting accounts.
Tencent is reportedly starting to use a time-sensitive facial recognition system for multiple popular games, although unfortunately these players can rent these accounts to bypass real name registration.
If the player fails or refuses the face scan, they will be immediately removed from the game and sent offline. All these measures are the result of decisions taken to combat rising gaming addiction concerns within the country, with 110 million underage children being reported playing online every day.
As video games remain a staple for young audiences in China, we may see even more unique and creative ways to get ahead of a growing number of systems. However, this could result in more drastic measures being taken to reduce the hours played by minors.