The state newspaper People’s Daily criticized Tencent’s mobile game “Honour of Kings” again, publishing an opinion article headlined “Do not let online games become your whole life.”
The game is now widespread among Chinese gamers, with its cumulative registered users over 200 million and over 80 million active users.
The criticism follows Tencent’s producer of the game Li Min responding to criticism of the game last week from the People’s Daily that caused Tencent’s share price to plunge.
The writer of the article on People’s Daily, Zhang Yang, cited some recent tragedies caused by addicted gamers. This June in Hangzhou, a 13-year-old student jumped out of the fourth floor, after he got into trouble with his father for playing “Honour of Kings” too long. Previously, a 17-year-old boy in Guangzhou played the game for 40 hours, leading to cerebral inflammation and a near-death experience.
“There are have been several articles around ‘Honour of Kings’ being a threat to personal property and security,” Zhang Yang wrote. “The game is a way of socialization, but if playing time is too long, it can no longer be called ‘addicted’ or ‘social’, it must be called ‘miserable’”
Zhang Yang calls for more regulations around the game, and that government and enterprises should take more responsibility.
“I hope that the government departments secure the internet, as ‘the biggest variable,’ putting emphasis on teaching materials about building healthy network culture and coming up with more effective regulatory measures. I also hope that enterprises, based on earnest social responsibility, build strict laws, regulations and moral standards to develop better network products.” Zhang Yang said in the article.
— This article originally appeared on TechNode.
