Three hours of play per week. China lost 40 million young players in two years

About a year ago China has strict rules regarding the amount of time people under the age of eighteen can spend playing online video games. State bodies reserved for young players three hours a week, after the hour – specifically between eight and nine o’clock in the evening – on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. Niko Partners, an analytics group that maps the Asian gaming industry, focused on whether the Chinese are following the strict rules and how they have affected the video game market.

A July survey of 1,250 respondents revealed interesting data. 77% of young Chinese gamers have cut their game time due to the new rules. More than half of the respondents, exactly 54%, follow the rules unconditionally – they do not exceed the maximum time and play only during the specified hours. A smaller group of 17% of players do not play more than three hours per week but do not adhere to the prescribed hours, and 29% do not comply with the rules at all.

Noteworthy is the figure for the total number of young players in China. While their number reached 122 million in 2020, this year it has risen to “only” 83 million. This is what Niko has been recording for the past two years. reduction of almost 40 million young players and links it to government restrictions. However, according to analysts, this number should rise again in the coming years and could approach the highest recorded values ​​around 2026.

The Chinese authorities are planning to deal more harshly with circumvention of the rules. For example, they discuss enhancement of face recognition functionsto prevent young players from using their parents’ accounts. According to available data, 82% of those who do not follow the rules play this way.

Last but not least, China is pushing companies towards so-called “anti-addiction measures.” While major companies such as Tencent have restrictive policies, smaller studios often do not include a system for limiting playing time in their games. Then such companies are deprived of illegal profits and additionally fined by the state.