A father in central China has filed a lawsuit against four major domestic gaming companies, seeking symbolic damages of 10 yuan (approximately HK$11.60) following an incident involving his son’s gaming addiction. The suit names Tencent, NetEase, MiHoYo, and 37 Interactive Entertainment and was submitted to a court in Tanghe County, Henan province, where the family resides.
The legal action comes after Qin’s son, who turned 18 earlier this year, swallowed 18 fever pills in a single episode on the evening of May 23. The boy was later hospitalized with drug poisoning but recovered after treatment. According to Qin, his son did not explain the reason behind his self-medication, and there were no signs that he had been ill or running a fever at the time. Qin speculated the pill ingestion might have been a response to distress associated with prolonged gaming sessions, such as feelings of guilt or physical discomfort.
Qin’s concerns about his son’s gaming habits intensified after the incident. He described his son as deeply addicted, spending entire weekends lying in bed playing video games and often staying awake until 4 a.m. This pattern, Qin reported, resulted in significant weight loss of about 10 kilograms. Data from one gaming platform indicated that the son accumulated roughly 1,868 hours of gameplay since March 2024—an average exceeding two hours daily.
The family situation is complicated by China’s regulations designed to limit gaming among minors, which restrict gaming to one hour each day between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Fridays, weekends, and public holidays. Qin’s son reportedly bypassed these restrictions by registering on gaming platforms using his adult sister’s identity card. He was thus able to evade controls intended to prevent juvenile overindulgence.
Qin holds the companies accountable for failing to enforce robust identity verification procedures, despite the availability of technologies such as facial recognition. The father’s lawsuit seeks to compel the gaming firms to strengthen measures aimed at curbing underage gaming addiction and to fulfill their responsibilities in this regard.
While Qin is pursuing only minimal financial compensation, his primary goal is judicial supervision of the companies’ compliance with regulations aimed at protecting minors. The suit highlights ongoing challenges in balancing gaming industry growth with social and regulatory efforts to mitigate the risks of addiction among young users.