China limits children to 3 hours of online gaming a week

China is banning children from playing online games for more than three hours a week, the harshest restriction so far on the game industry as Chinese regulators continue cracking down on the technology sector.

Minors in China can only play games between 8 PM to 9 PM on Fridays, weekends, and on public holidays starting September 1, according to a notice from the National Press and Publication Administration.

That limits gaming to three hours a week for most weeks of the year, down from a previous restriction set in 2019 that allowed minors to play games for an hour and a half per day and three hours on public holidays.

The new regulation affects some of China’s largest technology companies, including gaming giant Tencent, as well as gaming company NetEase.