With the internet, gamers can play with people anywhere in the world. But some of the latest apps are raising questions about morality and privacy. They allow gamers to search user profiles and pay others to play with them. But does the companionship end there? CGTN's Yang Chengxi takes a closer look.

YANG CHENGXI SHANGHAI "Many Chinese people born after 1990 grew up with video games. They play with their classmates, their friends, their colleagues and really anyone from anywhere through the internet. However, some people today are using apps where they would actually PAY to have someone play with them. You open one of these apps and you'll see that this is essentially a skill-share market place. I've invited E-sports industry veteran Hongcheng here to show us how this works."

WANG HONGCHENG SHIDATUI STUDIO "So you open one of their profiles, you can see their ranking, score."

"He 's supposed to be good right? He's got very high scores."

"Totally great at this game. All you have to do is press order."

You pay the rate, you wait for him to contact you, go ahead and start your game."

"Yes."

We chatted with a trainer on one such platform called Bixin. We spent about six US dollars for an hour of his time.

XIAO RUI TRAINER "A friend introduced me to this app. He thought I was humorous and have a good voice. So he said I should join the business. Some customers have a really short temper. But I have to keep a good attitude. I make 5 or 6000 a month if business is good."

That was money well spent: the trainer helped us win the ultimate battle-royale.

"Hongcheng, just how big is this industry?"

WANG HONGCHENG SHIDATUI STUDIO "Well it's big enough to have many people's job relying on it."

"So actually you can make good money using this app if you're good."

"So what kind of people want to use this kind of service? First I think it's the kind of people who want to be great at this game. There has to be someone tutoring you. Second is someone who is looking for companionship. Because you don't have anyone you know who can play with you. That sucks. Having someone with you in this journey is great, even if you have to pay for it. It's like, modern problems require modern solutions."

"So the camaraderie is surely great but there is one more important thing, Many trainers here are pretty good-looking, at least from the photos. There's absolutely no shortage of attractive female trainers."

So we placed a new order.

QI DIAN TRAINER "Most of the pictures you see are fake. Girl trainers who are performers or good singers are usually very popular. If a customer really likes someone, he will place many orders so she would only play with him. He could easily spend over 10 thousand yuan on one trainer a month."

"The app employs a sharing economy model, but unlike Uber where people pay for others' car rides, here, it is the companionship, often between opposite genders, that users are paying for and this opens up a whole new world ethical of controversy. "

"How big of an issue do you think this is?"

WANG HONGCHENG SHIDATUI STUDIO "You know if you cross the line, it becomes a dating app basically. Right now there are a lot of negative news about this service because someone might get scammed, they might get catfished. Platforms need to be more cautious."

So are these apps about video games or are they something more? It will likely be up for discussion. YCX, CGTN, SHANGHAI.