A Chinese video gamer drained her parents’ life savings of about $64,000 in a rather shocking report from SCMP. The 13-year-old reportedly spent the amount buying games, making in-game purchases, and also buying games for her friends.
According to the report, the 13-year-old girl, hailing from central China’s Henan province, spent 449,500 yuan (about $64,000) in just four months through her mobile’s smartphone.
Her parents eventually found out about her spending spree when they were alerted by a teacher who suspected gaming addiction in the adolescent.
When the mother checked her bank account, she found just 0.5 yuan ($0.07) in her account. Additionally, when the girl was confronted about the money she spent, she admitted to spending about $17,000 buying games, $30,000 on in-game purchases, and $17,000 on buying games for her friends.
The story has since gone viral on Chinese social media as another cautionary tale for parents. This comes despite China having some of the strictest gaming regulation laws worldwide.
China has been trying to fight “internet addiction” among its vast young population for years. The country first introduced rules to curb gaming time in 2019. This was followed by stricter rules in 2021.
Currently, minors are only allowed to play online games for an hour per day, but only on Fridays, weekends, and public holidays. Applications and games in China use several ways to implement these rules. This includes a youth mode in their apps coupled with even facial detection to curb children from bypassing the rules.
However, getting past them isn’t very tough. Numerous children can still play games for more than the stipulated time by using their parents’ smartphones. This was likely the case with the 13-year-old girl as well.
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