Tencent has been sued for "improper" content in the highly successful mobile game "Glory of Kings". The Beijing Youth Legal Aid Research Center claimed that this game, known as the "Heroic Arena" in the West, contains content that is not suitable for children.
The public interest group says it filed the lawsuit on Tuesday after an amended protection of minors law came into force. It contends that Tencent has lowered the recommended minimum age limit from 18 to 12 over the last few years.
The group claims Honor of Kings has characters with low-cut clothes, narrative elements that "tampered with historical figures" and "a lack of respect for traditional culture," according to Reuters. It also wrote in a social media post that the game's website and forums host "a lot of ... low-taste content that is inappropriate for teenagers" and that a raffle system could prompt young players to play the game for longer than they might otherwise.
Honor of Kings had 100 million daily active players worldwide as of November, Tencent said at the time. The company is the subject of other lawsuits, including one from TikTok owner ByteDance, which accused Tencent of violating antitrust laws by preventing users from accessing Douyin content on the WeChat and QQ messaging apps.
Reports in April indicate that China plans to fine Tencent in antitrust crackdowns. The company may face a fine of approximately US$1.5 billion. Tencent has also encountered problems in other areas. Last year, after India banned more than 100 applications linked to China, it lost the distribution rights of PUBG Mobile Lite and PUBG Mobile Nordic Map in India.
