Tencent will now use facial recognition software to track down underage Chinese gamers who play online games on accounts of adults between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. The company wrote this in a blog post.
“Accounts that are active overnight for more than a certain period and registered in an adult’s name will be subject to a facial scan,” the Chinese company writes on its blog page. “Anyone who refuses a facial scan or fails such a scan will be categorized as a minor, stored in our anti-addiction system and taken offline until a new scan is requested.”
With this technology, which was given the name Midnight Patrol and has been tested since 2018, Tencent says it wants to check whether the people who play at night with an adult account are actually of age. The feature will be introduced in more than 60 games, including “Glory of The King” and “Peace Elite,” according to Tencent.