Authorities to Arcades: No Kids Under 18 Except on Holidays

The new rule, which will come into effect in January, is the Chinese government’s latest effort to curb gaming addiction among teens and young children.

China’s video game arcades will soon be off-limits to minors except on national holidays.

From January, public venues will not be allowed to offer gaming-related services to anyone under 18 except during government-approved holiday periods, according to a new guideline from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism published Wednesday. Aimed at regulating the country’s offline gaming industry, the new rule will also ban entertainment venues from offering gambling-related games including slot machines.

The initiative is supposed to “strengthen the management” of entertainment venues while “promoting the healthy development” of the domestic offline gaming industry, according to the ministry. The document claims that arcade games provide content that is “unsuitable for minors when used independently or for longer periods of time” and instructs companies to develop more games that “reflect the national spirit.”

Wednesday’s guideline is the latest addition to several regulations Chinese authorities have introduced this year to tame the perceived threat of internet and gaming addiction in children. But experts say the effectiveness of policies targeting public spaces ultimately depends on how strictly they are implementated and supervised. Continue to read the full article here.

 

– This article originally appeared on Sixth Tone.