Fortnite China Is Shutting Down In Mid-November
No reason was given for the closure.
Fortress Night, the Chinese version of the popular video game Fortnite, is shutting down its services later this month.
The move was announced on Fortnite China's official website recently but Epic Games, the company that owns Fortnite, has neither issued an official statement nor explained the reasoning behind the decision.
The announcement merely said the game, which was made available in China as a "test" for the last two years, would be ceasing services on November 15. As of November 1, it was no longer possible to create new accounts on the Chinese server.
The move comes after video game companies like NetEase and Tencent were required to limit online gaming to just three hours per week for minors in China, according to new rules imposed by Chinese regulators in August.
The game was made available in China in collaboration with Chinese tech giant Tencent. A large number of Western video games undergo major changes before they are allowed into the Chinese market, mainly for regulatory and cultural reasons.
The Chinese version of Fortnite, which was launched in April 2018, is similar to the original Fortnite except for some significant changes. Chief among them is the absence of microtransactions, which are subjected to strict regulations in China.
The localized version also does not feature the Support A Creator system.
On the cosmetic front, the Chinese version did not depict skulls and all character skins that did depict skulls were either missing or altered. Another significant change was the game's lore, which mentions that the battle royale takes place in a training simulation, and that all the opponents are holograms.
This created the impression that the game is less violent, thus complying with China's strict video game regulations.
- Platform
