Tencent Games, the parent company of Riot Games and a major investor in many others, has announced a new concept called Game Contracts. The system would create a platform whereby children and parents come to an agreement over how much video game time they can have in return for certain milestones, be they household chores or academic goals.
"With the proposed feature, children can exchange their playing time by doing housework or reaching certain [academic] scores," Tencent chief executive Ma Huateng said (via ). "Children can ask their friends to witness the signing of the contract."
This move comes at a time where Tencent stands accused of drawing too much of China's childrens' time, with one academic professional describing its games as the new "opium" for teenagers. Specifically, she was talking about Tencent's mobile League of Legends clone, Honor of Kings (Arena of Valor in the West), which brings the highly competitive MOBA genre to smartphones, making it more accessible than ever.
Tencent is looking to head off any comparisons to addictive drugs early and its gaming contracts system would let parents set clear targets for children with playtime as a reward. It's not clear yet if this is something we can expect to see rolled out to other countries, or whether it will be a China exclusive system. However, it seems likely to be linked specifically with Tencent games, so your kid may be restricted to League of Legends, Fortnite, Battlegrounds or Clash Royale.
