China games association publishes draft for industry self-regulation guidelines
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The trade body for China's video games industry has released a draft for new guidelines that will demonstrate how the sector can self-regulate games content and releases in line with government restrictions.
According to the South China Morning Post, the Gaming Publishing Committee of the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association published the document on Tuesday, detailing 11 requirements new titles must meet before they can be distributed in the region.
More than a dozen Chinese games companies were involved in writing up these guidelines, including Tencent, Perfect World and iDreamSky, as well as tech firms such as Huawei Technologies.
The draft was released via the Association's official WeChat account. Games companies in China have until April 13 to share their feedback and opinions.
The requirements essentially cover a range of 'dos and don'ts' that address concerns such as gaming addiction and excessive consumption, protecting minors, user privacy violations, counterfeiting, copyright disputes and more.
Other examples include forbidding games from leaking state secrets, endangering national security, and "damaging national honour and interests."
Adverts for games must be "in line with the requirements of building a Socialist Spiritual Civilisation," and the content of the games themselves must not promote pornography, gambling, violence, obscenity or aid crimes.
The guidelines also call for all online games to use the Online Game Anti-addiction Real-name Verification System, which restricts players under 18 to three hours per week (one hour on Friday, Saturday and Sunday).
This is in line with a nationwide restriction
Read more on gamesindustry.biz
