Game-Time report/On December 23, a seminar on the theme of “Promoting and Implementing the Regulations to Boost Growth” was held in Beijing. Members from all walks of life, including deputies to the National People’s Congress, members of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, experts and scholars, industry associations, public welfare organizations, parents of students, etc. gathered together to discuss the important milestones of the “Regulations on the Internet Protection of Minors” that will be officially implemented on January 1, 2024. significance.
At the meeting, the Department for Safeguarding Youth Rights and Interests of the Youth League Central Committee released the “5th National Survey Report on Internet Usage among Minors” (hereinafter referred to as the survey report).
The “Survey Report” shows that 61.5% of underage netizens believe that the current management method of limiting game time has significantly reduced the time they or their classmates play games. More than half of minors choose to do other things when encountering identity verification pop-ups, and nearly 80% of parents are aware of minor protection measures.
In other words, the anti-addiction system plays a significant role in helping minors control gaming, and the problem of minors’ addiction is effectively solved.
Game addiction is no longer a focus issue
Two years ago, the “830 New Regulations” were released and quickly implemented. Because they are extremely strict compared to vertical historical policies and horizontal overseas practices, they are often called the “strictest new regulations to prevent addiction.”
At that time, the relevant person in charge of the Publishing House pointed out in an interview that the background of the introduction of the new regulations was that with the rapid development of the game industry, the problem of minors’ addiction has become increasingly prominent, causing widespread concern in society. Therefore, the notice was issued at the beginning of the new semester, aiming to promote anti-addiction work to achieve better social results.
Relevant measures such as time limit control are not only a reflection of the newly revised “Minor Protection Law” that was implemented in June of that year, but also aim to form a joint force with game companies as the main body, families as the first line of defense, and schools and other social aspects. anti-addiction system.
Faced with the problem, the gaming industry took full action. In addition to strictly enforcing new regulations, the company has also actively used advanced technologies to prevent addiction, such as facial recognition to combat fraudulent use. Overall, the prevention and control of game addiction among minors has achieved remarkable results.
This “Survey Report” pointed out that in 2022, the number of minor Internet users in my country will be 193 million, and the Internet penetration rate among minors will be 97.2%, which has basically reached saturation.
Behind the growing group of minor netizens is the continued decline in the gaming time of minors. The “Investigation Report” found that61.5% of underage netizens believe that the current management method of limiting game time has significantly reduced the time for themselves or their classmates to play games.
Although 32% of underage online game users still use their parents’ accounts to play games, and 39.1% of parents said they would let their children use their own accounts to play games, more than half of minors will choose to exit the game when encountering identity pop-ups. Do something else. The “Investigation Report” also believes that minors have diverse entertainment life preferences, and as long as more guidance is provided, the possibility of minors’ addiction can be further reduced.
Behind the above facts, the essence is a complete change in the Internet usage habits of minors under the influence of the game anti-addiction system. The “Investigation Report” also found that88.7% of underage netizens often use the Internet to study and believe that the Internet has a positive impact on their learning.
Overall, game addiction is no longer a focus issue.
The whole society recognizes the effectiveness of anti-addiction work
It is worth noting that this is not the first time that minors’ gaming time and consumption have decreased. The “China Game Industry Report for the First Half of 2022” released by the Game Working Committee pointed out that in the first half of last year, data such as the total time played by minors, the number of monthly active users, and consumption expenditures all decreased significantly year-on-year.
In other words, the remarkable effectiveness of anti-addiction work is not just one person’s opinion, but a phenomenon observed by many parties.
As the addiction problem of minors has been further alleviated, the focus of the annual game industry conference held on December 14 this year has officially shifted. The minor protection sub-forum that has been held for four consecutive years will no longer be established.
The “2023 Progress Report on the Protection of Minors in China’s Game Industry” (hereinafter referred to as the Progress Report) released in other forums at the meeting also concluded that the problem of excessive gaming among minors has been effectively improved, and the game industry’s anti-addiction has entered a new stage.
The “Progress Report” found that 28.86% of underage game users have reduced their consumption, which is higher than the proportion of increased consumption. Underage game consumption willingness and consumption levels have further decreased.In a survey on “What do minors do during their breaks?”, gaming only ranked 6th in priority.lower than interacting with parents, playing with classmates and friends, watching online videos, reading extracurricular readings, learning and reviewing school knowledge, etc.
This “Investigation Report” also investigated the various activities that minors often engage in online, and also found that the proportion of online learning exceeds that of playing games.
Visually speaking, minors would rather study than play games in their spare time, which shows the effectiveness of anti-addiction work.
Sun Shoushan, chairman of the Audio and Digital Association, also said at this year’s Digital Entertainment Industry Conference that with the joint efforts of the competent authorities and the industry, the anti-addiction work for minors in games has achieved phased results, and the industry’s reputation continues to improve.
China’s success in preventing addiction and unprotected jobs has even attracted widespread attention overseas. Research agency Niko Partners released the “Young Players in China” report in mid-2022, stating that affected by the introduction of the “830 New Regulations”, the number of underage players in China has decreased by 39 million, and 71% of underage players have less gaming time per week. At 3 hours, 76% of minors spend less and less time playing games every week.
It can be seen that all sectors of society, including industry associations, minors, parents, and even overseas media are paying attention to and recognizing the effectiveness of my country’s anti-game addiction work.
Gaming companies play key role
The total time played by minors, the number of monthly active users, and consumption expenditure have been significantly reduced. The problem of game addiction has been basically solved, and phased results have been achieved, which cannot be separated from the active participation of game manufacturers.
Rome was not built in a day. Take Tencent as an example. As early as 2017, Tencent started the development of a minors protection system, gradually implemented restrictions on minors’ gaming time and consumption amounts, and took the lead in adopting real-name authentication through face recognition. It is the first anti-addiction system in the industry that was launched voluntarily by the manufacturer, and its strength far exceeds the requirements of the competent authorities at the same time.
In terms of recharge, we also proactively increase the amount. The competent authorities require that recharge be prohibited for those under 8 years old.Tencent stipulates that recharge is prohibited for people under the age of 12, and it is the only leading manufacturer in the industry that strictly follows the requirements of the competent authorities.
In response to the “channel server loophole” issue in anti-addiction games that was subsequently exposed by the media, all of its games do not have channel servers and are implemented in accordance with unified Tencent official standards.
Tencent’s unprotected measures have been iterated so far. It has been upgraded to version 4.0, serving more than 70 million parents and teenagers. It has built a comprehensive and more constructive unprotected plan that covers before, during and after the event, advocating a combination of blocking and sparing. .
At the level of “blocking”, Tencent strictly guards against it and is one of the first manufacturers to introduce emerging technologies such as facial recognition and AI into games to prevent addiction. By enabling financial-grade verification standards, Tencent can accurately identify minor users during login, payment and even gaming activities.
Tencent’s financial report for the first quarter of 2023 also showed that minors accounted for only 0.4% and 0.7% of game time and turnover, a sharp drop of 96% and 90% compared with the same period in 2020. It can be seen that Tencent Games never considers interests in the face of the social project of unprotected rights and wrongs.
Tencent has also injected more dynamic and healthy development thinking into the “thinning” layer, adjusting its work focus to pay attention to the root causes of minors’ addiction to games, and filling the gap where minors may be captured by other forms of entertainment after the absence of games. For example, at the beginning of this year, Tencent announced the “Minor Protection 4.0” upgrade plan. Among them, the “Intellectual and Physical Double Hundred” plan advocates assuming more social responsibilities by providing more venues, courses, and activities to help minors improve their physical health. and healthy growth mentally.
Covering 36 “Future Classrooms” with 640,000 visitors and “Future Sports Grounds” with nearly 2 million teachers and students participating in sports, as of August 2023, the “Intelligence and Physical Education” plan has covered 17 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions across the country.
Based on the various efforts of game manufacturers, a series of results have been achieved, such as the proportion of gaming among minors’ online activities is lower than that of studying, and 61.5% of minors reported that their gaming time was reduced under the anti-addiction system.
It is not difficult to find that our country has built the most advanced and efficient anti-addiction system in the world. It not only guides minors to develop correct entertainment, life, study habits and balance concepts, but also helps children thrive and creates a unique system in the world. The clear environment.
