Websites in China are already working to bypass recently implemented government regulations.

According to People's Daily, a Chinese government paper, Tencent has sued over 20 account trading and e-commerce platforms that were trading and renting accounts for Tencent flagship Honor of Kings.

The new regulations limit the amount of time under 18s are allowed to play video games to three hours a week, one hour on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Although the regulations are not law, Tencent implemented a real-name registration system for Honor of Kings to remain compliant with the new regulations.

To circumvent the restrictions, accounts available for rent appeared on e-commerce sites starting at just over $5 (¥33 CNY) for two hours. Renting an account avoids Tencent’s registration system and allows users to play for an unlimited amount of time.

Rental accounts

Honor of Kings is the most popular mobile title in China and the highest-earning mobile game to date, with the majority of revenue being raised in China.

Tencent has previously administered several restrictions in the game targeting younger players to remain compliant with government regulations. Earlier this year, the company implemented facial recognition software to detect whether minors were playing the game between the hours of 10pm and 8am.

In addition, following recent criticism from state media branding Honor of Kings a "spiritual opium," Tencent prohibited in-app purchases for under 12s in the game and took further action to prevent children from using adult accounts.

Despite the company locking down on younger players, Tencent recently reported that Q2 2021 revenue from mobile games were up 16 per cent to $6.3 billion, hinting that restrictions on young players do not particularly damage the mobile game market financially.