Fortnite China permanently shutting shop amidst crackdown on gaming
On November 15, the Fortnite China game will be permanently off as servers will be muted by then.
When it comes to censorship, nothing goes beyond suspicion in China. The technology of the West has always been under the Chinese lens, with companies like Apple bearing the brunt of China’s scrutiny.
The Asian nation had recently raised it’s policing on gaming too, and as a fallout of this, Fortnite has decided to permanently shut down in the country. Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite, is closing down its game title for China, leaving fans disappointed.
After China had stepped up scrutiny, Epic Games had decided to roll out an entirely separate version for Chinese fans. The move, however, did not do any good for the gaming major, as losses began to mount.
Over the past three years, Fortnite China accumulated losses of great proportions, forcing it to decide that it wouldn’t be viable for the game to continue with its China version anymore.
Fortnite China servers to go down on November 15
Going by the Fortnite China website, the decision to shut down operations in the country has been taken. The company has planned to bring to effect the closing down in two phases, and by November 15, the game will be permanently shut as servers will be muted by then.
Gaming rules had been getting stringent under the Chinese administration and recently the stricter rules had even impacted major gaming tournaments and gaming. These developments have led companies to realise that gaming is turning out to be a loss-making business in China.
Fans across globe wary whether they will be impacted
Fortnite China’s shutting down has left fans across the country and even overseas unhappy. Many have been urging the company to review its decision.
The game, which is immensely popular across the globe, had seen a good number of players adding to its original fan base after Chapter 2 of Season 8 got released. All these fans are wary that China development could affect the global version.
But Fortnite may not let them down. The US-based Epic Games is likely to offer Fortnite free of cost in many countries. So the China version being shut down may not prove to be a problem for the global players of the game.
