Chinese video game rakes in cash, draws young rule breakers

SHANGHAI — In China, teenagers can purchase a fake ID online for as little as $2. Is it for buying booze? Subverting the state? Many simply want to play a game on their phones.

More than 200 million people in China play “Honor of Kings,” the social media-focused app that has become the biggest moneymaking smartphone game in the world. Last week its creator, the Chinese Internet conglomerate Tencent Holdings, said that “Honor of Kings” helped power a nearly 40 percent rise in its game revenue in the three months that ended in June.

But the game’s popularity among the young has alarmed Chinese officials.