China declares war on MMORPG addiction

Citing concerns about young people plunking themselves in front of computers and not budging, China is using anti-addiction software to limit how much people under age 18 can play certain MMORPGs. After three hours’ play, scores just start decreasing. This came after a study from the China National Children’s Centre showing that 13% of under-18s who used the web were addicted to online gaming. Limiting MMO access is a good idea – speaking as someone who contributed to their development, in a small way, it’s clear to me that anyone who thinks MMORPGs aren’t literally addictive for a non-trivial number of players is a self-absorbed dope – but as with most addictions, will prove difficult to enforce, as addicts are polymorphous and cunning. It will be interesting to see how successful China is and what kind of obvious catastrophes are necessary for similar measures to be voluntarily taken by western MMORPGs. Developing. [GT]

China seeks to ‘limit game hours’ [via CrunchGear]