TALKESPORT

In a rather most controversial thing coming from China, Tencent, its global internet giant has revealed a new installation. The new feature is apparently to curb overplaying kids and teenagers by the use of a facial recognition system.

The program, called Midnight Patrol, will be in place from 10 PM to 8 AM to deduct kids, posing as adults.

“We will conduct a face screening for accounts registered with real names and that have played for a certain period of time at night, “Anyone who refuses or fails the face verification will be treated as a minor, and as outlined in the anti-addiction supervision of Tencent’s game health system, and kicked offline, said Tencent (via SixthTone).

The program will go live this Tuesday, where the data, linked to the public security system will scrape the people playing games online. Anyone found not in allegiance to this regulation will be immediately kicked out of the game.

Tencent will initially deploy the screening layer for over 60 popular games, including Honors of Kings & Game for Peace.

“Facial recognition is a welcome sign because real-name verifications cannot keep kids out of the games,” said Chen Lina, an accounting executive.

WeChat though is full of criticism from the Chinese gaming community, who are raising concerns on the growing limitations on internet users.

ESL Gaming, the world’s largest esports company, has today announced that global cryptocurrency platform Coinbase will become the Official Crypto Exchange Partner for key ESL events in 2021 and 2022.

The new partnership will bring the two respective industry-leading organizations together for the first time. It will commence at IEM Cologne 2021 and Coinbase, a trusted and easy-to-use platform for accessing the broader crypto economy, will support the ESL Pro Tours for CS:GO, StarCraft® II, and Warcraft® III. 

“This is a partnership between two like-minded companies at the forefront of technology and innovation,” said Eli McCarrel, Director Global Brand Partnerships at ESL Gaming. “We look forward to bringing Coinbase into the ESL family and integrating them into future ESL initiatives. This is an industry-shifting partnership and we couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead.”

“In its early days, few people foresaw the potential of esports becoming the vibrant and robust thing it is today,” said Eryn Alexander, Brand Director at Coinbase. “We believe the crypto-economy is on a similar trajectory, and we’re thrilled to find partners like ESL who share our sense of foresight and optimism.”

Through this landmark partnership, ESL and Coinbase will create unique integrations that will span across broadcast, social media, digital media, content, and more. These integrations will not only provide compelling content for fans but will reinforce why Coinbase should be the gateway to crypto education.

This is not the first major crypto-esports partnership. Earlier, teams like TSM, FaZe, and other major esports organizations have shown their active interest in building strategic partnerships with digital currencies.