It appears that China is back on the warpath when it comes to video games. Recently, the Chinese government banned the sale of Animal Crossing: New Horizons in order to curb Hong Kong activists who were using the game to spread pro-democracy messages. However, China could be going even further as allegations surface claiming that the Chinese government intends to ban online gaming as an attempt to prevent its citizens from interacting with foreigners outside the Great Firewall as well as initiate a gaming curfew.
The news of this crackdown comes courtesy from a number of Taiwanese news sites Liberty Times Net and Taiwan News. According to these websites, the Chinese Community Party(CCP) is extending its political censorship to online games so that the Chinese gaming community can be prevented from having contact with other players outside of China.
The CCP already took its first step on April 10 by banning the sale of the new Animal Crossing game where pro-Hong Kong activists were using the game as a vehicle to speak out against the government. However, now all online games will be affected as laws are being drafted to increase the scope of online censorship, and monitoring, for all video games that allow gamers to play online whether multiplayer or singleplayer. Allegedly, as of right now, the new law has already appeared in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong among other municipalities.
In addition to preventing its citizens from playing online games with the world beyond China’s Great Firewall, players and developers will now have to implement and use a real-name system. If that weren’t enough, games released in China can not have zombies, plagues, or anything that might link to the Wuhan virus. Players will also be prohibited from using map-editors and character dress customizations to form unions or organizations that would be utilized to promote the “split of the motherland” or make fun of the CPP and President Xi Jinping .
A curfew for younger games will also be going into effect. Players under the age of 16 years will not be allowed to play games from 10:00 pm to 8:00 am and be limited to a monthly spending budget of 200 RMB. Players who are 16-18 years of age will not be allowed to exceed 400 RMB per month as a way for the government to combat internet addiction.
Speculation for this authoritarian lockdown of the gaming community is that the CCP doesn’t want its citizens to learn about what the rest of the world is discussing in regards to the coronavirus.
How this will affect companies such as Activision Blizzard, which has shown its support for the Chinese government, Epic Games, Studio Wildcard, and Riot Games has yet to be seen.
[…] of what they say, and, in light of the events surrounding the Coronavirus, allegedly being restricted from communicating with other gamers outside of […]