Briefing: Tencent to expand real-name verification to all games by 2019

Tencent to expand underage ID check to all games – Reuters

What happened: Tencent will roll out real-name verification system to its entire game line-up by next year. Players of all PC and mobile games under Tencent will have to verify their identities against police databases. The Chinese internet behemoth said the new measure will first be applied to 10 of its most popular games before expanding to the entire library. The intention of the so-called “health system” was to address the game addiction problem among underage players.

Why it’s important: The new addiction prevention measure—which includes age verification and daily play time restrictions—was introduced in September. Tencent first started enforcing real-name registration on one of its most popular mobile game, Honour of Kings (王者荣耀), after coming under fire for the encouraging the worsening game addiction problem in minors.

Not only Tencent, the largest video game company in the world, has suffered from the broader crackdown on cultural content in China, but the gaming sector also witnessed its slowest first-half growth in ten years.