Fortnite shuts down servers in China

Today, November 15, 2021, in China the servers of the Chinese version of Fortnite have been closed, Fortress Night. After placing the strict limits on the time children can spend playing online, China also shuts down the title servers.

Fortnite says goodbye to China: servers officially closed

The title of Epic Games he said stop to new registrations as early as November 1st, two weeks before the official closing. Fortress Night officially debuted in China in 2018, in collaboration with the Chinese tech giant Tencent. Many Western titles have to be significantly modified for the Chinese market, both for reasons regulatory that cultural.

Fortress Night include una series of changes compared to the original Fortnite, including measures to limit the time players spend on the game. Also the Chinese version of the title does not possess “microtransazioni” so it is not possible to buy extra in-game items with real money.

Earlier this year, the Chinese government branded online video games as “spiritual opium”. Similarly, the Chinese video game regulator also announced in August that children under 18 years they had available one hour of online play on Fridays, weekends and holidays.

In announcing the closure, Epic Games said:

Thanks to all the Fortnite China players who rode the Battle Bus with us by participating in the Beta.

The words of Kerry Allen, a Chinese media analyst

Kerry Allen, a Chinese media analyst, analyzed the video game market in China. Even though Fortnite took nearly a year to arrive in mainland China, it was one of the most anticipated titles. It is well known that highly successful overseas games rarely make it to the country.

There are long terms e conditions established by strict Chinese regulators who stop video games. Particularly if some titles are considered as too violent, pornographic, o se they paint the country in a negative light. Many video games are not part of a real blacklist but the long checks of the regulators they mean a lot of western games come left waiting. They often remain on the waiting list for many years, before being allowed to enter the country.

First, gaming companies have to secure contracts with local Chinese companies to have their games recognized. Then, after passing the checks, they debut on independent Chinese servers. This means mainland China users they can play with each other but they cannot interact with international players.

For a while, the Epic Games title occupied a rare position in the Chinese market: a foreign game that overcame all these hurdles while still relatively new.