Since 25 December 2024, game companies in Vietnam have been required to limit players under 18 to 60 minutes per game and 180 minutes a day across all of the games they provide. The rule comes from Decree 147/2024/ND-CP, which also requires every game account to be verified with a Vietnamese phone number and makes parents responsible for registering accounts for children under 16.
The intention is a good one, and it deserves credit. Most parents and teachers here have seen what unlimited gaming can do to a child’s sleep, schoolwork and mood, and until now the burden of managing it has fallen almost entirely on families. The decree puts part of that responsibility where it belongs, on the companies that design games to keep children playing. But a rule enforced by game companies will only ever be part of the answer. There will be gaps, and enforcement will not be easy. Parents and schools still have the bigger role.
What the decree requires
The time limits sit with the game companies, which must build systems that stop under-18s playing more than an hour on any one game or three hours a day across their games. Games must also show a warning every 30 minutes that playing more than 180 minutes a day will harm your health, and display an age rating (18+, 16+, 12+ or all ages) during play and in advertising.
Every account has to be linked to a Vietnamese mobile number before it can be used. For a child under 16, the account must be registered by a parent or guardian using their own details, and the parent is responsible for supervising how long the child plays and what they see. The decree also bans cashing out or trading virtual items between players, and requires public gaming venues to close between 10pm and 8am. Since July 2026, venues that stay open can be fined 10 to 15 million VND.
What has changed since
The Law on Cybersecurity 2025 came into force on 1 July 2026 and extends the same principle beyond games. When a child under 16 uses an online service, a parent or guardian must register the account in their own name and supervise what the child accesses and shares. It does not ban children from these services. It makes clear that the account, and the responsibility, belong to the parent.
The government is also consulting on amendments to Decree 147. The draft, published in July 2026, would cut the limit for under-16s to 60 minutes a day across all games and tighten the rules on social media accounts for younger children. It is not yet law, and the industry has asked for changes, so the final version may look different.
Where the gaps are
The current three-hour limit applies per company, so a teenager who moves between games from different publishers is not held to a single daily total. More importantly, the limits only work if the account shows the child’s real age. A child playing on a parent’s account, an older sibling’s account or one set up with a borrowed SIM card looks like an adult to the system, and the protections disappear. Many of the games children play most are run from overseas, and how fully they apply Vietnamese rules is hard for anyone outside the company to check.
None of this is a reason to dismiss the decree. It is a reason not to rely on it. Regulators can set the rules, but they cannot see what happens on a phone in a bedroom at midnight.
Why parents matter most
The simplest thing a parent can do is take the law at its word. Set up your child’s accounts yourself, with their correct date of birth, so the limits actually apply. Then add the controls you already have on the phone, console and game account, because they cover what the decree does not.
Rules work best when children understand them. Agree how long a session will last before it starts rather than stopping a game halfway through, and keep devices out of bedrooms overnight. Talk about spending too. Offers to trade items or earn in-game currency are a common way for scammers and strangers to make contact, and children are more likely to tell you about them if they know you will not take the device away. Our guide to online gaming covers these risks in more detail.
What schools can add
The decree gives schools no formal duties, but schools are often where the effects of late-night gaming show up first: tired students, slipping work, arguments that started in a game and carried on in class. Many parents also do not know the registration rule applies to them, and a short note from school explaining it may do more for compliance than any fine.
Schools can include gaming, spending and online contact in their digital citizenship lessons, and should treat reports of in-game trading, scams or gifts from strangers as safeguarding concerns for the designated safeguarding lead. When school and home give children the same message, the law has a much better chance of working. Our resources for schools have more on building that partnership.
If your school would like staff or parent sessions on gaming and online safety, see our training or get in touch.
