14 DAY TRIAL // The Chinese government increased the legal restrictions it imposed on video games by prohibiting minors to use the micro-transaction systems that fuel the highly popular free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing titles in the country. This comes just as a new law has been issued regarding Internet cafe operators, essentially banning under-age children from these establishments.
The new video-game regulations prohibit minors from engaging in micro-transaction operations, effectively cutting part of the revenue for MMOs that base their profits on this kind of virtual-currency system. Chinese children will still be able to take part in these games, but they will not be able to purchase items that are available in the virtual stores.
Furthermore, this recent law bans a certain kind of content deemed unwholesome by the Chinese authorities, stating specifically that the promotion of violence, pornography, gambling, cults and superstitions is a sure way to get removed from the Chinese market. Studios will also have to develop options that allow the limitation of the playtime for children, to prevent addiction, and will also oblige everyone to register in online games with their real names. The current idea is to let minors play MMOs for no more than three hours a day.
These regulations will start to be enforced on the 1st of August, according to the local Ministry of Culture, as quoted by Gamespot. This is quite a big blow to the online-gaming industry in China, which hosts, at least for the moment, the largest and fastest growing user base in the world. This is not the first time the Chinese authorities have legally impaired MMO publishers.
In 2004, advertisements for computer games were banned from the state-owned media. Gold farming has also been recently stopped, banning the trade of virtual currency for real goods and services. In spite of all the limitations imposed by the Chinese government, these types of games still thrive in China, mainly because of the huge number of players that engage in these digital activities.