SHANGHAI - Tencent Holdings on Tuesday said it would introduce new measures to reduce minors' access to and time spent on its "Honor of Kings" game, a move it plans to eventually roll out to its full games line-up.

Players under the age of 12 will be prohibited from spending money in the game, and time restrictions on minors will also be tightened from 1.5 hours to 1 hour on non-holidays, and from 3 hours to 2 hours on holidays, Tencent said in a statement posted on one of its official WeChat accounts.

The announcement came shortly after Tencent and "Honor of Kings" were criticized in a Chinese state media article that described online gaming as "spiritual opium" and sent the company's shares tumbling.

  - Reuters