[sureLoss]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video..._medium=social

China announced Monday that it is banning minors from playing video games during the school week and can only play for an hour on Fridays, weekends and holidays. The new rule comes from China’s video game regulator, the National Press and Publication Administration, which did not respond to requests for comment.

The policy is slated to take effect by September 1.

China has established extensive rules about minors and playing video games in the past, after blaming games for causing nearsightedness and addiction in youth. In 2019, the government announced that gamers under 18 had to stop playing between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m., and only game for 90 minutes on weekdays. In 2018, Beijing stopped approving video games for publication for nearly nine months, hurting the bottom line for massive Chinese companies like NetEase and Tencent.

The Chinese government plans to enforce the ban by requiring minors to register to games with their real names and requiring gaming companies to ask for real names. Some game companies have already begun to use a real name-based registration system to limit playtime, such as Tencent asking for real names with its wildly successful mobile hit, “Honor of Kings.”