A man plays the popular Honour of Kings online game from Chinese gaming giant Tencent on a high-speed train from Henan to Beijing on September 15. In a document published this week, 213 gaming companies committed to closing loopholes to its systems combating gaming addiction, including the use of overseas platforms. Photo: AP
China’s state-backed gaming industry association and 213 video gaming companies, including Tencent Holdings and NetEase, issued a self-regulation pact on Thursday, pledging to follow Beijing’s mandate to fight video game addiction by filtering unhealthy content and boycotting overseas platforms.
In a blog post published on WeChat, the China Game Publishers Association Publications Committee (GPC) published the Online Gaming Industry Anti-Addiction Self-Regulation Convention, with buy-ins from gaming companies across the country. GPC is the gaming arm of the China Audio-video and Digital Publishing Association, a group that answers directly to the Communist Party’s propaganda department.
The document professes the companies’ commitment to incorporating anti-addiction features into video games. This also applies to single-player and console games, which have not traditionally been considered as addicting as “internet games”, like the free-to-play mobile titles played with strangers online that have become so popular. Companies are also pledging to stop offering account rentals and gaming companion services to young players.
The document asserts companies commitments to ban various types of content recently targeted by authorities, including “effeminate men”, money worship and “gay love”. Content deemed “politically harmful” or “historically nihilistic” will also be boycotted. The same goes for games with mechanics considered to be only designed to generate profit or traffic.
The companies said that they will “resolutely boycott circumventing regulatory procedures and using overseas gaming platforms to provide services to domestic users”. If strictly enforced, the measures would plug a hole in a legal grey area that many developers have used to reach Chinese gamers from overseas because of the huge hurdles to getting titles approved for sale in the country.
The convention comes after the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) introduced China’s most stringent measure yet to tackle video game addiction. The new rule limits gaming time for players under the age of 18 to 8pm to 9pm on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and statutory holidays.
While the document is not legally binding, it is something the industry can refer to in the future, said Charles Yu, head of Pillar Legal’s Shanghai office. The part about overseas platforms could be especially impactful, according to Yu.
“This article is aimed primarily at online game stores such as Steam and the Epic Games Store,” Yu said. “Because game licenses in China are restricted, Chinese gaming companies going overseas is going to be a big trend. How they will enforce this article remains to be seen.”
02:28
Tencent narrows kids’ playing time on video games labelled ‘spiritual opium’ by Chinese state media
Tencent narrows kids’ playing time on video games labelled ‘spiritual opium’ by Chinese state media
Steam, run by US-based Valve Corp, is the world’s largest distributor of PC games. While legally games are supposed to be licensed for sale in China, Steam has never been blocked in the country and accepts Chinese payment systems. The platform had 30 million users in China in 2018, according to an estimate from market research firm Niko Partners. Steam launched an official store in China this year with far fewer titles, leading to fears among gamers that the main Steam platform may eventually be blocked by the Great Firewall.
The convention, however, is light on specifics regarding overseas platforms.
“If a Chinese game company has an overseas development team, is it restricted by it? If a Chinese company invests in an overseas development studio, will it be restricted by it?” Yu said, offering possible questions that the document fails to answer.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Gaming industry promises action to combat addiction
