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The Chinese government recently formulated a new policy to limit online games for children under the age of 18 to 3 hours a week. This statement is sure to scare millions of children and teenagers.
Although not popular with young people and gaming companies, it does raise the question of whether other countries need to investigate the increasing consumption of children by online games.
The online gaming industry is huge. In 2020, the global online game market created approximately US$21.1 billion in revenue, a year-on-year increase of 21.9%, a record high. There are about 1 billion online game players in the world, and more than 10% of them are Chinese children.
Heavy rewards
Online games and the platforms that support them are getting better at ensuring that the eyeball stays on the screen for as long as possible. They are greatly motivated because it helps them make money from advertising revenue and in-game services. For example, Amazon’s streaming media platform Twitch exceeded $100 million in advertising revenue in the first quarter of 2021 alone, partly because it allows users to participate in 71 million hours of game streaming every day.
Children who could play outdoors, make real friends, learn skills (such as playing a musical instrument) or learn, are playing addictive online games.
The rapid development of technology makes it easy for both parents and children to rely on the Internet for entertainment instead of trying to organize sports activities. As social networks are now deeply integrated into these games and smartphones, with instant access to technology, children’s social lives are mainly limited to various online platforms.
However, the problem is not just wasting precious time, which could have been better allocated to making friends, exercising, or learning for children. It can cause serious health problems.
Concerned about the addictive nature of online gaming platforms, the Chinese authorities call their latest campaign the war against “electronic drugs.”
The Addiction Center of the American Rehabilitation Clinic describes how video games trigger the chemical dopamine in the same way as addictive drugs. The World Health Organization recently listed gaming addiction as a disease, and it is estimated that 3-4% of video game players struggle with addiction.
There may be tens of millions of people suffering from gaming addiction. People with depressive symptoms are also particularly vulnerable, and they see games as a way to get rid of their daily struggles.
“Pay to win” culture
Many platforms have built-in gambling elements in their systems, so indulging in online games can also cause serious financial impact. Examples include in-game currency that can be exchanged for real money, enabling micro-transactions in exchange for “loot boxes,” which has led to a “pay to win” culture in which gamers can make further progress and add character customization with money.
93% of children play video games, but what’s more worrying is that according to data from the charity Gamble Aware, as many as 40% of children have opened a “trophy box” in the game, which contains random number rewards.
As a result, some children may end up spending more than $100 a month to try to obtain certain digital features, such as putting on new clothes for their avatars. In response to this quasi-gambling, the British government is exploring measures to control game micro-transactions in the same way as regulating gambling.
Online gaming addiction not only affects children, but adults also become addicted to these platforms. Research published by the Royal Society of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Kingdom shows that there is a “medium to strong” correlation between youth playing microtransaction games and the development of gambling addiction in adulthood.
Online gaming is part of a broader challenge in the modern digital world. Recent technological advancements have allowed us to search for information and services with relative ease, whether it is accessing healthcare, conducting business through online video calls, or sharing and discovering gossip on social media platforms through videos, photos, news, and blogs.
It is also a lot of positive characteristics inherent in our daily lives, but it means that we are now staring awake at the screen most of the time.
A study by the price comparison website Uswitch shows that in the UK, people use digital power for an average of 6.4 hours a day. For people born after 1995, this number is even worse. They are called Generation Z. They use digital media for 11 hours a day, which is most of their waking hours.
Suppress the game
For China, the latest restrictions on game time are an upgrade to existing attempts to limit games for minors. Previously, minors’ online game time was capped at 90 minutes on weekdays. Now, online games will only be open to children for one hour on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and the evening of public holidays. China may be unique in its digital infrastructure and political power to implement this policy.
Large game companies such as Tencent are responsible for implementing this policy, including requiring users to provide their real names and ages, otherwise they will face the anger of the Chinese government.
Although restricting online games in this way is unthinkable in most countries, there should still be a broader debate about our relationship with the online world. In the United Kingdom, the Journal of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergency Situations (SAGE) shows that the blockade caused by the pandemic has resulted in a 71% increase in the time people spend on online games.
In the long run, we need to be careful not to exacerbate this problem, and perhaps digital detox. Otherwise, the consequences of inaction can be serious, especially for those born in the digital age.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
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