The Chinese regime has forbidden under-18s from playing video games for more than three hours per week, a stringent social intervention that it said was needed to pull the plug on a growing addiction to what it once described as “spiritual opium.” The new rules, published on Aug. 30, are part of a major shift by Beijing to strengthen control over its society and key sectors of its economy, including tech, education and property, after years of runaway growth. The restrictions, which apply to any devices including phones, are a body blow to a global gaming industry that caters to tens of millions of young players in the world’s most lucrative market. They limit under-18s to playing for one hour a day—8 p.m. to 9 p.m.—on only Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, according to the Xinhua state news agency. They can also play for an hour, at the same time, on public …