Based on seven billion hours of gaming, an international study finds that the Chinese government's efforts to regulate video game addiction among teenagers are ineffective. This could be due to both young people themselves circumventing the restrictions and dubious implementation by the games industry.
A recently published study by researchers from various departments and universities looked at the Chinese government's measures to combat video game addiction. The study, titled “No evidence that Chinese playtime mandates reduced heavy gaming in one segment of the video games industry,” was published by David Zendle, Catherine Flick, Elena Gordon-Petrovskaya, Nick Ballou, Leon Y. Xiao and Anders Drachen in the journal Natural Human Behavior published. As the title suggests, the study comes to a critical conclusion. Using telemetry data from more than seven billion hours of play time provided by a video game industry stakeholder, researchers found no credible evidence of an overall reduction in intensive play time following the introduction of the regulations. These regulations were introduced by the Chinese government in November 2019 and limit daily playing time for players under 18 to 1,5 hours and on public holidays to 3 hours. The legal age verification and game limits were implemented by the companies, but could be circumvented with parental consent.
All effects remain absent
The study shows that the Chinese government's regulations to combat video game addiction among young people have no significant effect. It was found that the likelihood of certain accounts playing heavily in a week increased by 1,14 times, but this was considered to be within normal fluctuations. This means that the regulations did not have a negative “backfire” effect. The underlying problems were neither resolved nor made worse. However, the researchers warn that this “non-effect” could lead to no further action being taken to combat video game addiction, as the regulations are seen as sufficient, even though this is not statistically the case. The results of the study remain robust even after the government adjusted the season regulations in 2021.
The researchers cite various explanations for the lack of an effect. For one, parents could allow their children to play more by using their own registration details. This would allow for a loophole in regulation. On the other hand, players who were already connected to their parents' accounts before regulation may show more playing time, possibly out of defiance or pride in having escaped the restriction. Another reason could be the inconsistent implementation of regulation by different gaming providers, as there is no uniform process set by the government. Larger companies like Tencent may adhere to strict age verification, while smaller providers may get away with more lax controls.
Source: Games market
