Tencent urges third-party platform to ban second-hand gaming accounts
Tencent said it has moved to act against those who misuse online gaming accounts and lend them to minors who are only permitted to play during designated hours.
A China Central Television report on Monday found that a gray market has already arisen in which gaming accounts are traded or leased on an hourly or daily basis.
Minors and students are only allowed to play online games from 8pm to 9pm on Fridays, weekends and holidays, the National Press and Publication Administration said last week.
Some minors have been found using other adults' accounts to play outside of these designated hours, bypassing identity and real-name registration measures.
"This is a severe violation of the real-name registration system and protection mechanism for minors," Tencent said on Monday night.
It has sent notices to over 20 digital platforms to urge them to prohibit second-hand account services and remove vendors from the platforms.
Tencent is also calling for regulations forbidding the selling or leasing of gaming accounts to be drafted.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Crossfire and Honor of Kings are popular games from Tencent in which accounts can be leased. The price varies from about 20 yuan (US$3.10) to over 100 yuan (US$15.50) per hour depending on the level of sophistication.
The merchants do not ask for any ID information or check whether the buyer is minor.
Such virtual services could still be found on Alibaba's Taobao, available from dozens of vendors, on Tuesday.
Before the new directive from the National Press and Publication Administration, China has limited online playing time for minors to three hours on holidays and 1.5 hours on other days.
Shares of both domestic and overseas listed gaming companies plunged after these strict rules were put into effect.
