Tencent Launches First Mobile Game Off Limits to Underage Users

Tencent announced on Wednesday that from 12 a.m. on September 25, 2021, all underage users will no longer be able to log into its mobile game Light and Night.

The game is an Otome mobile game featuring immersive interaction. It was released on June 24, 2021, and created by top CV, composers, painters and screenwriters in China and across the world.

Tencent officially released measures to upgrade the health system of the game on August 13, which are now in smooth operation. “For further protecting the minors, improving and maintaining a safe and healthy online game environment, the health system will be upgraded in the second stage,” said a post on its official Weibo account.

Regarding existing underage premium users, the game platform will initiate refunds at 12 a.m. on September 7.

One article published by an official Chinese media affiliate compared online games to “opium,” suggesting the industry may face stricter regulation. In July, Tencent expressed a desire to step up patrols of minors playing its games. Addressing the issue of children playing with adult accounts, Tencent is requiring gamers to perform facial recognition scans on their phones to verify that they are adults.

SEE ALSO: Tencent Strengthens Protection Measures for Minors After Lambasting by Chinese State-Run Media

Tencent released its second-quarter financial report in August, showing that in July, an average of 13.6 million minors per day were forced offline by the system for violating the new regulations. An average of 8.25 million accounts per day activated face recognition verification in the login environment and 49,000 accounts during payment.