Last week, Vietnamese gamers were buzzing about a VTV news report focusing on kids and gaming in Vietnam today. On the 7 PM news, VTV highlighted several pressing issues with online games, including addiction, unchecked content, unlimited playtime, and the lack of real age verification for players.
Recently, a Facebook user shared a post about this topic, and we’d like to quote it in full here:
The story of game publishers and kids who “eat rice with one hand and flash away with the other”
Everyone knows Vietnam’s mobile gaming market is booming, and the player base is incredibly young.
For team-based games like Arena of Valor and similar titles, the age of team members actually matters for winning. Honestly, controlling user age shouldn’t be that complicated (in my opinion). Over 80% of users log in or register for mobile games using social media accounts, mostly Facebook.
Publishers identify users by User ID or email in their systems but never collect user age to block kids under 13 or 14 from playing. Technically, it’s not hard, doesn’t require complex processes, and Facebook’s app permission system makes verifying birthdays pretty easy. Facebook also does a good job controlling age and quickly flags fake accounts. This solution could help if publishers actually chose to implement it.
Adults are also part of the problem. Just because you think your own gaming is harmless doesn’t mean it’s harmless for your kids. Adults and kids have very different gaming experiences.
“Don’t let games control your kids”
The post quickly gained shares and comments on Facebook, with most people agreeing with the author’s perspective. The issue involves everyone: publishers are the key players, Facebook plays a significant role, and parents are the most important factor.
Proper age control requires effort from both publishers and users. Hopefully, in the future, kids gaming won’t be a problem that gets highlighted on VTV news again, and stricter controls will protect young players.
