The Chinese government is cracking down on online players below 18. They have just passed a regulation that requires online game operators to install an "anti-online game addiction system". China is definitely concerned about the effects of online games on school kids as truancy and petty crime rates rise. The regulation will affect players who are below 18; it doesn't really stop them from playing, it just whittles their gaming hours to an encouraged limit of three hours.

How will it work? The anti-online game addiction system will be installed on MMO games (by the operators, definitely no squeezing out of this one). After which, the under-age player logs in and plays for three hours everything will be normal (full experience points and whatnot). If the player goes on playing for two more hours, he will only get half of the experience points. After five hours, the player gets none at all.

Plus they will be barraged with a message "You have entered unhealthy game time, please go offline immediately to rest. If you do not, your health will be damaged and your points will be cut to zero." at 15 minute intervals. In addition to the system, players will be required to register using their real names and identity card numbers for the system to verify their ages.

The MMO operators aren't exactly worried. The9 (exclusive distributor for the World of Warcraft in mainland China) spokesman Zhao Yurun expressed that the system won't have a great impact on their player base as most of the players are adults. Other operators in China are Shanda, NetEase and Tencent - all agree that the impact will be minimal.

The regulation will be effective on April 15, whereas the operators have until July 16 to have the system installed in their games - or be shut down. According to China Daily, there are 31.12 million online gamers in 2006 but only 10% was below 18. So it's pretty clear that the anti-addiction system is not really a big issue with the MMO operators. But the real identity registration might pose a concern as it might scare off players.

We'll see how this goes in the long run. Would you like to play your favorite MMO on a leash?