CSGO addiction timeouts are now live in China, limit play time

M Alzamora Published 25/08/2020

After announcing that it would require games to limit the number of hours minors spend playing video games last November, China’s government officially put them into effect in June.

Just before CSGO’s professional players took some much needed time off, China’s anti-addiction measures aimed at minors became official. The measures were put into place after the country’s government gave players early notice around the release of the game’s Shattered Web operation. Since then, Counter-Strike’s popularity both in China and worldwide has exploded. The measures are nearly identical to those revealed in a WIN.gg report concerning Valve’s work with China, specifically to implement anti-addiction measures into CSGO’s client and the company’s work on Steam China.

That report is available here.

China’s CSGO video game policy went into effect over 2020 summer

While November’s announcement included a seven-point plan, its implementation earlier this summer came with hard and fast limits with regards to both the amount of time spent playing video games as well as minors’ ability to refill their Perfect World wallet. China’s CSGO National Service account posted a blog detailing the imposed limits, opening by citing the November announcement and informing players of the changes:

“According to the National Press and Publication Administration’s “Notice on Preventing Minors from Indulging in Online Games”, in order to promote healthy games for young people, CSGO has officially opened a new anti-addiction system. After the anti-addiction takes effect, accounts will be bound to the [account holder’s identity]. Player’s who [are registered with] information [placing them] underage will be subject to the following restrictions when logging in to the game,” the blog reads.

Minors are limited to 1.5 hours per day maximum. On official Chinese holidays, that limit is extended to three hours in total. The hours during which minors are allowed to play games is also restricted to between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m..

The times match WIN.gg’s findings it investigated the alpha version of Valve’s Steam China Client.

Spending money on games has also been limited, but there are different cutoff points depending on a child’s age. Between the ages of eight and 16, Chinese minors are limited to a daily deposit of 50 yuan in addition to a total monthly cap of 200 yuan. Young adults between 16 and 18 have their caps doubled to 100 yuan per day and 400 yuan, or around $59 per month.

Children under the age of eight will be unable to add any money to their accounts.

Earlier this summer, Perfect World moved its Arena client out of beta, mentioning it for the first time on CSGO’s Chinese website since entering beta nearly two years ago. The client boasts the first full-scale 128-tick server expansion for CSGO outside of FACEIT and ESEA’s third-party services.

In closing, the post made it clear that Perfect World’s CSGO would adhere to the government’s new rules.

“CSGO will strictly abide by relevant regulations to protect the healthy growth of young people,” read the post. “Thank you for your understanding and support.”

M Alzamora

About M Alzamora

There are few things that writer M Alzamora loves more in life than Pokemon. And there are even fewer things that she loves more than her favorite Pokemon, Eevee. But M’s appreciation for gaming isn’t just limited to Nintendo’s famous pocket monsters. She’s interested in every type of game across every genre of gaming, and she has the credentials to prove it. M’s work has also been seen on Working Classicists and gaming sites.

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