02:32 EDT, 4 August 2021
China´s biggest gaming company, Tencent Holdings, said Tuesday it will limit gaming time for minors and ban children under age 12 from making in-game purchases after a state media article called games 'spiritual opium'.
Tencent's pledge to curb gaming for minors came hours after the company's stock plunged as much as 11% following a critique published by the Economic Information Daily, a newspaper affiliated with China's official Xinhua News Agency.
The newspaper article named Tencent's wildly popular Honor of Kings game as one that minors were addicted to, and cited a student as saying that some played the game for eight hours a day. The online article was removed hours later.