In China, Tencent imposes anti-video game restrictions on minors

“

” laments Zhang Yuchen, 14.

The Chinese internet giant Tencent has just announced that it will extend the limit of one hour of play per day for minors to all of its video games, in order to fight against teenage addiction.

In full takeover by Beijing of the digital giants, the state press had estimated in early August that video games had become "

" for young people.

And the sector had started to fear a new regulatory tightening of the authorities.

The article particularly pinned down Tencent and its popular video game "

", which has more than 100 million daily active users in China.

Under pressure, the group, which already imposed limits on playing time and facial recognition in China to prevent under-18s from playing at night, has toughened the rules even further.

Play time on "

" has since been limited to one hour per day for minors and two hours maximum during school holidays.

A device that will expand

When publishing its quarterly results, the group announced that this measure would be extended "

" to all of its games, but the schedule was not specified.

During the past quarter, video games once again represented for Tencent its biggest source of income (43 billion yuan or 5.6 billion euros), up 12% over one year.

But over the period April June, its net profit is down 11% compared to the first quarter, to 42.58 billion yuan.

However, it is up 29% over one year.

Read also: Video games: Sony's PS5 has exceeded 10 million sales

In recent months, several internet giants, including Tencent, have been singled out for previously tolerated and widespread practices relating to personal data, user rights and anti-competitive practices. The Chinese market regulator blocked in July in the name of competition the merger of the two largest online video game platforms in China, Huya and Douyu, in which Tencent is a shareholder.

A setback for the world number one, who hoped to take control of the new entity and establish its grip on the video game sector. Huya and Douyu combined account for 80 to 90% of the market share, analysts said. Tencent, also a major player in online music listening, was also forced to give up its exclusive rights to titles, again in the name of competition.