Midnight Patrol: Tencent's facial recognition system to prevent children gaming at night

Tech giant Tencent has announced the release of a facial recognition system that will integrate into certain games which are available in China to stop children from playing video games after hours.

In 2019, China had approved a bill, which focused on the addiction of children and teenagers to video games and aimed at eliminating it. Children and teenagers are allowed to play 90 minutes on weekdays and only three hours on weekends and holidays. The bill also introduced a curfew on children and teens playing video games. Also, they aren’t allowed to play the videos from 10 pm. until 8 a.m..

The company's new system called Midnight Patrol scans a player's face on a computer screen and "checks" it through a list of registered names and persons. If a child or teenager exceeds the allotted time, he or she will no longer be able to play the game.

Tencent will apply this facial recognition system to approximately 60 of its games, including Glory of the King and Peace Elite. League of Legends is not currently on the list.

It should be mentioned that players who avoid facial scanning for these games will automatically be considered minors and the game will shut down.