Beijing Teenagers Law Aid And Research Center said it filed
the lawsuit in a Beijing court on Tuesday, to mark the implementation of an
amended protection of minors law.
The suit, whose content Reuters could not independently
confirm, also coincides with an unprecedented antitrust crackdown by Beijing on
some of China's biggest tech companies that sources told Reuters includes
Tencent.
The company, which declined to comment when contacted by
Reuters, has progressively lowered the recommended age limit for the game from
18 in 2017 to 12 this year, the public-interest group said.
In a posting on its social media account, it said some of
the game's characters wore low-cut clothes and that its storyline tampered with
historical figures and showed a lack of respect for traditional culture - all
of which made the game inappropriate for young users.
"Game characters' clothing is too revealing, while
there is a lot of ... low-taste content that is inappropriate for teenagers on
its website and forums," the group said in the posting.
An in-game raffle also made young players more likely to
play the game for longer, it said.
Citing concerns about eye damage, Chinese authorities have
sought to limit hours that teenagers can spend playing video games, and
companies including Tencent have put in place anti-addiction systems that they
say cap young users' game time.
Tencent said last November that Honor of Kings, which is
free to download but has paid-for in-play content, had a record 100 million
daily active users worldwide.
Sources told Reuters in April that China is preparing to
fine Tencent, probably in excess of $1 billion, for anticompetitive practices
in some businesses and for not properly reporting past acquisitions for
antitrust reviews