Play time isn’t over in China, says boffins: Video Games Industry Memo, 17/08/2023
China's game time limits fall flat, Embracer Group doesn't embrace Saudi Arabia and Quake II remaster grabs my attention
Video Games Industry Memo in brief
China’s government mandated play time limits are proven to be ineffective.
Embracer Group’s $2bn suitor revealed to be Saudi’s Savvy Games.
Remaster of Quake II sneaks onto the scene (and Steam).
The big read - China’s limits on ‘heavy gaming’ didn’t work, says academics
New research from leading video game academics has found that China’s efforts to stop users from engaging in ‘heavy gaming’ via Government diktat has proven - in highly technical policy parlance - to be completely bloody useless.
Limits break
Way back in the deepest darkest mists of time (November 2019), the Chinese government introduced play time limits for young players in an effort to curb their exposure to ‘gaming disorder’ - a mental health issue which was controversially added to the International Classification of Diseases by the World Health Organisation earlier that year.
Its plan to deal with the scourge of a practically non-existent condition was to limit both the amount of time minors could play video games and impose a curfew on when they accessed content.
However, in a blow to Xi Jinpeng, peddlers of moral panics and providers of easy answers to complicated questions, researchers found there was “no credible evidence” that the imposed limits decreased play time.
The team, which was headed up by Dr David Zendle of the University of York and armed with 2.4bn players provided via game engine Unity, found that playtime amongst heavy users - who typically play for more than four hours a day - didn’t decrease in the year after limits were introduced.
In fact, playtime actually ticked upwards in a manner that the researchers described as statistically insignificant and I describe as hilariously ironic.
Hate the players (and the games)
So, why didn’t the rules make a noticeable difference to play time? The answer is straight-forward: because limits are easy for players to evade and hard for government to enforce.
On the personal side, the researchers hypothesised that players either used technological means to evade limits (e.g. VPNS) or interpersonal methods (e.g. asking friends for access to accounts) to circumvent the rules in a manner akin to parents buying kids a highly age rated games or teenagers snaffling beers using a fake ID.
Meanwhile on the enforcement side of the equation, the researchers suggested that the focus on ensuring compliance from dominant market players like Tencent meant that the mighty ‘federated’ games industry - i.e. loads of independent developers in the Unity data set - went ungoverned because there are too many games for even the Chinese state to keep a close eye on.
This allowed players fleeing from a regulated digital space to end up in ‘unregulated’ ones - keeping their playtime high and, theoretically, continuing to expose them to the supposed ‘harm’ that the measures were meant to prevent. Whoops.
All the evidence base are belong to us
Will the uselessness of this policy change anything in China? Nope. Even accounting for some important caveats from the researchers - such as the inability to break down Unity’s player data by age - the government has signalled its doubling down on screen time limits amongst minors.
However, outside of China’s efforts to limit play time as a part of a wider attempt to crack down on communication and dissent online, the researchers hope that it will spark a wider conversation about the actual effectiveness of games and digital policy.
This included floating the idea of running a similar exercise in Belgium to ascertain industry compliance - or otherwise - with its controversial local loot box laws that’ll likely make the industry shudder a little bit at the thought of it.
But putting that terrifying prospect to one side, the research has shown, once again, that developing the evidence base around games and games policy is the best way to help build its defences against bad outcomes.
While China will stick to its guns, this research provides solid evidence that draconian ‘stick it to ‘em’ policy - like that seen in places like the UK Government’s Online Safety Bill - is likely to be both ineffective and have inadvertent negative consequences.
So if the industry can hold its nerve, share its data and see what comes out the other side, we should - hopefully - move to a world where rules around games are made based on what they’re actually like rather than how they’re perceived.
News in brief
Saudis turn down Embracer - Axios Gaming kicked the week off with a scoop that showed Savvy Games, the Saudi-backed video game publisher, was the mysterious investor who walked away from a $2bn deal to back Embracer Group earlier this year. Embracer’s financials for the last quarter are due out today, so keep your eyes out for the impact of the collapse on its prospects.
Controlling the stream - Netflix has launched a game controller app on the App Store for iOS devices that will let people play games on their TV using a gamepad interface. We in the games industry call the gambit of using a mobile device to play games on the TV as pulling a ‘reverse Ouya’.
Keeping it a little too real - Homelessness, car crashes and the use of prison labour are all set to be included in the sequel to City Skylines: 2, according to Insider. While the features are interesting, the fact that a major outlet is picking up the release of a game to discuss socio-economic issues in society is the thing worth noting here.
Turn me on with your electric spiele - With gamescom kicking off next week, Game, the German trade association, has released its annual report about the market. Come for stats about revenue (€9.87bn) and average player age (37.9) in Germany, stay to find out whether Bavaria retains its position as the number one region for making games.
The only way is ethics - Isabel Davies, a lawyer at Wiggin LLP, has put together a mercifully practical guide to ethical monetisation design in games in line with recent global regulation. It even features positive and easy to understand examples for anyone fearing a Don’t Do What Donny Don’t Does approach to the topic.
Ins and outs
Jagex is on the lookout for a Director of Community Management for anyone with a Runescape state of mind…Live your dreams of working at Warhammer World by becoming a Games Workshop Licencing Manager for Video Games…Help Activision Blizzard learn that tax doesn’t have to be taxing by becoming their new Senior Tax Manager.
Events and conferences
Gamescom, Cologne - August 23rd - August 27th
PAX West, Seattle - September 1st - September 4th
XDS, Vancouver - September 6th - September 8th
PG Connects, Helsinki - September 11th - September 12th
WASD, London - September 14th - September 16th
Tokyo Game Show, Tokyo - September 21st - September 24th
Games for your perusal
Quake II - Remastered FPS snuck out last week with a Beyonce style surprise release on Steam
Madden NFL 24 - Latest version of EA’s loot box laden sports blockbuster comes out on Friday.
Vampire Survivors - BAFTA award winner makes its way to Switch for under a fiver.
Red Dead Redemption - Noted cowboy ‘em up arrives on PS4 and Switch in pricey form.
Before you go…
The musical Hamilton has been brought to life via a brand new Roblox experience, with players taking ‘their shot’ on behalf of our heroic revolutionary across ten playable worlds. No word yet on whether Hamilton biographer Ron Chernow will be playable, I’m afraid.