The Chinese government has introduced a new credit scoring system that punishes a wide variety of actions, including the purchase of video games.

Operated by companies Alibaba and Tencent, which run China's social networks, the credit scoring - tied to national identity cards - will become mandatory by 2020.

The scores will determine citizens' ability to access loans and other financial services, as elsewhere, but also function as a draconian measure of citizenship.

High credit scores enable people to gain travel permits and visas much easier, for example.

Scores can be negatively affected by being politically outspoken; posting information about things like the Tienanmen Square massacre; or purchasing goods considered to be of no value - including video games.

Ironically, the credit scoring system itself operates much like a game - specifically, a competitive one.

Anyone's scores can be looked up on the Internet, and already people are beginning to brag about their credit scores online.

More chilling is the fact that one's credit score can be affected by the actions of one's acquaintances, as measured through social media.

Chinese nationals can, for example, look up their friends' credit scores and see which friends' activities are hurting their own score, a mechanic that encourages isolation of politically-active individuals.

The American Civil Liberties Union has highlighted the system as "a warning for Americans," saying that this use of big data to build a political credit history could have stark ramifications if employed outside China.

So while it's unfortunate that buying Fallout 4 could negatively affect one's credit rating in China, that's the least of the issues raised.