Monday 03-07-2017 17:52 Mobile Gaming China Tencent Generally, the aim for most apps is to increase user engagement time – but Chinese internet giant Tencent has put restrictions on one of its most popular mobile games, in an attempt to address concerns about children's gaming habits. Honour of Kings, which is the world's highest-grossing mobile game with over 200m users, is introducing daily time limits for younger players. Users under 12 years of age will be limited to an hour of play each day, and 12-18 year olds will be limited to two hours. It is also restricting under-12s from logging into the game after 9pm, and will be putting limits on the amount of money younger users can spend in-app. The game's 200m-strong audience is primarily Chinese and young – over a quarter are under 19, according to data firm Jiguang, putting them in the age range for these new measures. Don’t forget to enter the Effective Mobile Marketing Awards. The Early Bird deadline for submissions is 22 July. More details here.
Up to a quarter of the 200 million Chinese gamers playing Honour of Kings, the world's highest-grossing mobile game, could be affected by Tencent's decision to bring in daily time limits for players aged up to 18 years. The tech giant, responding to concerns about children's gaming habits, has said users below the age of 12 will be limited to an hour's daily play, while user aged between 12 and 18 will have two hours.