• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, August 30, 2021

Think how this new rule will affect advertisers that want to reach their audience in video games.

Perhaps some parents in the U.S. also institute this rule in their household, but these strict new measures by China's government could cost game developers millions of dollars.

New regulations, announced by the National Press and Publication Administration in China, will ban minors from playing video games between Monday and Thursday.

Minors living in China will have one hour per day on Fridays, weekends and public holidays to play video games, and will only be permitted to play between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.

The idea is to prevent minors from becoming addicted to video games, according to the National Press and Publication Administration in China.

The new rules also urge the implementation of real-name registration and logins, 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 identifications.

This type of enforcement is not completely new. The Wall Street Journal reports that Tencent Holdings, a large video game company in terms of revenue, uses a combination of technologies that automatically boots players off the game after a certain time period has elapsed. It also uses real-name registration and facial-recognition technology to limit game play for minors.

Officials said parents and minors can decide how long the children will play other types of games that are conducive to learning and cognitive development. 

China has also enacted a data security law that goes into effect on September 1.

In June, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress passed the Data Security Law to regulate data activities, safeguard data security, promote data development and usage, protect individuals and entities' legitimate rights and interests, and safeguard state sovereignty, state security, and development interests.

The legal framework called the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) passed earlier this month. There are strict requirements inside and for transferring data from collected in China to outside of the country.