We Thought Lockdowns Would Be 'A Tough Sell' Once...

...the news that China is taking on the job of limiting gaming time caught the attention of so many parents I know. According to state news outlets, online gaming companies will be required to limit under-18s to just three hours of playtime a week, between the hours of eight and nine in the evening on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The regulation has teeth: companies will be required to ensure they put in place real-name verification systems or go further and take their cue from companies such as Tencent, which recently implemented a facial recognition system that asks users to play on camera to prove they’re over 18.

Well, *shrugs*, that's China for you! 

I know some western parents found themselves looking at the new rules wistfully. Imposing limits on surly children is hard and being able to – truthfully – tell a kid to stop playing video games on a weekday night because it’s against the law can sometimes feel like it would be a parenting superpower versus simply cajoling, pleading or threatening.

Sure, because as Longrider pointed out in comments on one of my posts, there are always rabid authoritarians out there who will seize any opportunity. 

And parents who think telling their children something's against the law will stop them doing it, against all evidence to the contrary... 

I’m a huge gaming fan, but even I get uncomfortable when I look at the business models – and revenue – of some of the industry’s largest players.

Why? Do football fans say 'Oh, I hope my team doesn't make too much money from ticket sales, or win too many matches'..? 

The video game world’s understanding of regulation was shaped by bruising conflicts in the 90s and 00s over whether violent games begat violent children. As clear a moral panic as one would ever see, the experience has taught too many in the industry that all concerns over its effects on children are overblown and all approaches to regulation are to be fought tooth and nail.

Maybe they are, though? 

Western nations won’t follow China’s lead too closely and as much as some western parents might wish they could, such a tight restriction would be a tough sell in a youth culture where games have a much stronger hold on the attention than anything so pedestrian as broadcast TV or music radio.

It would have been, yes. But nearly two years of the majority accepting that the governmennt has the right to order us all to stay behind our front doors may well have changed that...