Over the weekend, social media exploded when Riot Games announced an age restriction in Brazil intended to prevent minors from accessing its games. This coincided with Brazil’s Digital Statute of the Child and Adolescent (ECA), which is meant to protect children and teenagers online.
Starting March 17th, gamers in Brazil must prove they are over 18 by showing photos of official documents and completing facial recognition to avoid a total suspension of their accounts for games like League of Legends, VALORANT, and 2XKO.
Of course, gamers responded with anger. Per usual. Many felt it was a way for Riot to get sensitive personal information and documentation from its players. Sort of like how Discord did. And Discord had promised that the information would not be saved, but that promise was disproven when there was a massive data breach. Yikes.
Today, I’m not saying that I agree with Riot – or any company – wanting a bunch of sensitive information. I’m saying I don’t want anyone under 18 to play video games with me. In this argument, I hope Riot and other companies can find another way to do this. Either way, I’m simply arguing (mostly in jest) that I agree that gamers should be 18-plus.
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. I Was a Kid Once. And Nobody Probably Wanted to Play Games With Me Back Then Either, Which Is Valid
There are a few arguments for allowing kids to play games. One is the social aspect, with kids using video games to form friendships and learn teamwork outside of school. The other is the skills video games can teach, like strategy and problem-solving. The other big argument could be esports-related: kids need to start gaming early to develop the skills needed to compete at a top level.
However, here’s my counterargument: Fthem kids, and fyou, too!
I think the idea of video game lobbies being free of kids and teenagers sounds like a dream come true. Who even likes having young teammates? The number of times I’ve had to play with an underage person who just constantly says immature things, slurs, and annoying dated brain rot is uncountable. It’s infinite. I have to constantly mute my teammates, which seems like a good solution.
But a