The Chinese Communist Party has in recent years begun to try and combat what it sees as the problems with technology and gaming, and in doing so has made China one to watch for government regulators worldwide. China may not be a 1:1 comparison with any other country, and the regime is authoritarian, but the issues it’s tackling and the way it’s chosen to do so (in examples like crypto mining, an outright ban) are policy lessons: the question being do the restrictions work and, if so, how effectively?

In November 2019, the CCP launched new regulations with the stated goal of “prevention of online gaming addiction in juveniles”, under which videogame publishers are obliged to stop players under 18 from playing more than 90 minutes a day (three hours on public holidays)…