Indeed, it is now recognized as a mental addiction in the World Health Organization’s “International Classification of Diseases” (2018). Unfortunately, that is precisely what is happening to many players all over the world.Īn industry of health professionals has developed to try and help those with this serious compulsive disorder. When that pleasure becomes excessive, it can be annoying to others, but it doesn’t qualify as a computer game addiction unless other areas of a person’s life become adversely affected. Playing computer games is fun for millions of people. Explicitly or not, they want to dominate the lives of their players.Ĭomputer Game Addiction Also Serious Problem in US And they offer additional incentives, including daily or weekly use-it-or-lose-it quests, login rewards for continuous streaks of play, season passes and other incentives. Obviously, they make the games as exciting as possible, which entices players to return. Game companies do develop ways to addict players. The government is also concerned about “celebrity fan culture and private tutoring,” and is trying to create “positive energy” and restore “correct values.” The BBC says the crackdown by Beijing is based on a reaction to the rapid growth of capital and technology and the potential adverse effect on the well-being of the country’s young generation. Wikipedia says, “’Honor of Kings’ is a multiplayer online battle arena developed by TiMi Studio Group and published by Tencent Games for the iOS and Android mobile platforms for the Chinese market.” Interestingly, downloading the app is free but to upgrade characters or costumes to advance levels, players must pay. Gaming has been called “the world’s most lucrative market.” And gaming is just part of Tencent’s total revenue of $74 billion. According to Tencent, it had the equivalent income of $22.7 billion in revenue from smartphone games and $6.9 billion from PC games. “Honor of Kings” was the world’s top grossing game in 20. illo: unknown The World’s Most Lucrative Market It is obvious the company admits their product is dangerous, so why doesn’t China take it off the market?īoth boys and girls are attracted to The Girl Queen from 'Honor of Kings'. BBC news estimates China has “tens of millions of young gamers.” Tencent has also developed a facial recognition system to limit late-night gaming by children. Play must be between 8 AM and 9 PM and is not permitted on Monday through Thursday.Īlso facial recognition is becoming required to insure the player is 18 or older, to prevent children from using the IDs of adults to sign on. Online gamers under 18 are now limited to only one hour on Friday through Sunday and on holidays. The Chinese government responded to Tencent’s suggestions by issuing much tougher restrictions. They did, however, support prohibiting kids under 12 from spending money on games and suggested limiting playing time to under 1.5 hours on weekdays and 2 hours a day on holidays and weekends. Tencent wanted to show they were socially responsible, but only suggested weak measures for another of their popular game, “Honor of Kings”. Tencent, a Chinese multinational entertainment company and the world’s biggest gaming developer (“Call of Duty: Warzone”, “Fortnite”, “League of Legends”), responded by saying new measures were needed to protect minors. One article claimed children were spending food money on games, and playing them for up to seven hours a day, resulting in their school grades dropping. They called for more restrictions to prevent greater widespread addiction among children. I read with amazement news articles that proclaimed, “No industry, no sport, can be allowed to develop in a way that will destroy a generation.” Several articles even called gaming “spiritual opium.” Chinese authorities were labeling e-sports and games the “opium of the mind” and digital games “electronic drugs.” Indeed, the stories were scary enough for game companies’ stock to tumble up to 10% in just a few hours. Authorities were calling for parents, game developers and manufacturers to work together to combat the scourge of the game industry, which grossed $173 billion in 2021. Suddenly, however, I was reading all over about China cracking down on the game industry to combat child addiction to their products. Little attention to the video game industry. photo: courtesy TencentUNTIL AUGUST OF LAST YEAR, I PAID The Girl Queen from Tencent Games popular game 'Honor of Kings'.
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