Blizzard puts curfew on underage Overwatch and WoW gamers in China

Announcement follows government rules published last year designed to prevent gaming addiction

5 Feb, 2020 5:04am EDT

Blizzard, the gaming giant behind blockbuster titles like Overwatch and World of Warcraft, is limiting how much time kids in China can spend playing games online.

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The new announcement largely follows government rules published last year that officials said were designed to prevent gaming addiction. Gamers under 18 years old or those who haven’t completed real name registration will face restrictions after playing for more than 90 minutes. They’re also banned from logging into the game between 10pm and and 8am every night. 

The rules also cover StarCraft II, Hearthstone, Diablo III and Heroes of the Storm. 

This comes as schools across China remain closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. As children (and adults) stay home, many have been gaming a lot. Servers of popular games were overwhelmed, and some people appear to be turning to Nintendo’s Ring Fit Adventure to exercise indoors.

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