China cuts online gaming hours for kids to 1 hour a day on weekends

Kids and teens under 18 years old in China will only be allowed to play online games for an hour on Fridays, weekends and holidays.

China is reportedly imposing the new rules restricting kid’s access to online games in an effort to curb video game addiction.

China’s National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) told the nation's news agency, Xinhua, yesterday that online game-playing would be only allowed for one hour a day, between 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on weekends. Minors will also be allowed to play during the same time on national holidays.

The new rules will apply to companies providing online game services to minors, limiting their ability to serve those users outside of designated hours.

The rules also state that companies must make sure that players are using their real names to log in, saying that online game providers must not provide any form of game service to users who fail to register and log in using their real identities, to ensure compliance.

The latest rules from the NPPA significantly reduces the amount of time minors can play online games. 

As reported by CNBC, under 2019 rules, people under 18 were allowed to play games for one and a half hours a day on most days.

The move comes amid a crackdown by the Chinese government on video gaming, over fears of health problems and addiction among children.