China's gaming culture under the microscope

China's regulators say the country must be careful of pushing its gaming culture into overdrive. The National Press and Publication Administration released a series of proposed rules for online gaming last month. The deadline for public feedback on those draft regulations is Monday. 

Officials say they want to curb the use of rewards which encourage users to spend more time, and money, playing games. They've called for a ban on rewards for logging in each day, buying products in the game for the first time, and making several purchases in a row. Regulators are also calling for limits on digital wallets - in other words, the money that players use to buy products within a game. 

The rules of the game

Authorities say they're aiming to prevent a culture of obsession and addiction. They also imposed regulations in late 2021, saying young people should spend less time playing online games. Children between the ages of six and 17 were allowed to play for one hour per day on Fridays, weekends and public holidays. 

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Those rules may have worked to some extent. Research firm Niko Partners says the number of young gamers dropped from 122 million in 2020 to just under 83 million in 2022. 

Its research suggests 71 percent of minors now play for three hours or less each week. There is a catch, however - most of the children who ignored the rules were using their parents' gaming IDs. This suggests some adults did not embrace the rules as much as regulators may have hoped. 

Playing and paying

Investment firm Goldman Sachs says there were more than 650 million gamers in China in 2022. That means nearly one out of every two Chinese people play online games. The sector also pumps money into the economy - the latest data suggests it generates at least $45 billion in revenue per year. 

The draft rules may discourage some people from spending more time in front of their screens, but China already has a massive gaming culture. The data suggests that is unlikely to change anytime soon, so even if the proposals get the green light, it's probably not a case of 'game over' for the gamers. 

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