Playing Video Games in China will Hurt Your Social Credit Score

Ever grow tired of family members cracking jokes about your video game usage? What if it was the government? China's upcoming "social credit" system will strike citizens for playing too many video games.

Social credit is where a person's societal responsibility is given a number value, much like how we have credit scores in the States. This number will play a part in various life aspects, like renting property, travel tickets, and even hotel admissions. China plans to implement this system by 2020. Government officials have begun tracking behaviors such as jaywalking, recycling, and visiting family, to determine how well their citizens score socially. Sesame technology director Li Yingyun told Chinese Magazine Caixin had this to say.
 

"[playing video games] 10 hours a day ... would be considered an idle person, and someone who frequently buys diapers would be considered as probably a parent, who on balance is more likely to have a sense of responsibility."

Chinese game publisher Tencent is exploring ways to mitigate this, offering agreements with parents to reward chores and homework with video game time for their children. Which makes sense, they want people to play video games.

What would your social credit score be?