China’s hyper-restrictive games industry just released self-regulation guidelines ahead of publishing boom

China had one of the largest gaming communities until the introduction of gaming regulations by the Chinese government. Now the gaming space within China has drastically changed.

While they don’t want to eliminate gaming, the government is trying to restrict what can and can’t be played and even how long minors can game.

In a recent post from South China Morning Post, the Chinese video game association has created a draft of the guidelines for what they can and can’t distribute, which was co-written by several Chinese gaming and tech companies including Tencent Holdings and iDreamSky. It also addresses other issues, like counterfeiting and copyright disputes.

Under this regulation, games must meet content requirements before being distributed or promoted. Some include no leaking of state secrets, damaging China’s honor, and no gambling or violence. Game marketing must also align with building a ‘Socialist Spiritual Civilization.’ 

There are also now stringent rules regarding the protection of minors, which was one of the big points of their previous regulations. Gamers will now have to use a new real-name verification process, so if a minor is detected, their gaming time will be reduced to three hours per week; one hour on Friday, one hour on Saturday, and one hour on Sunday. And it has to be in the evening between eight and nine. 

The hope is this new regulation will help clarify and enforce what can and can’t be distributed within China and help reduce gaming addiction.

So, while gaming hasn’t been removed entirely, China is putting additional heavy restrictions on gaming content to ensure it aligns with the government’s values.