Although it's a popular battle royal game, Epic Games is shutting down its Chinese version of “Fortnite” this month.
“To add clarity, 'Fortnite' never officially launched in China,” tweeted Daniel Ahmad, a senior analyst at Niko Partners who covers the video games market in China and Asia. “The game has been undergoing testing for the past two-plus years and does not include IAP. This is because the game was never approved by the government and therefore could not officially launch and monetize. Hence the shutdown now.”
Epic has not released a statement specifying why its Chinese version of “Fortnite” is ending. However, this decision came after Chinese media reported Beijing increased its strictness for games.
“Western games, particularly battle royal games that feature violence, tend to face heavy censorship and content changes from state regulators,” according to Fortune.
With the shutdown of the gamer's servers on Nov. 15, users in the country will find their access prohibited. The game has already ceased new user registrations and eliminated its downloading option, according to CNN. Tencent reported that registered players last year exceeded 350 million.
Other games so impacted are "Grand Theft", for being overly violent; and "Battlefield", for negatively depicting China. Some games Beijing approved so far are "Pokémon", "FIFA" and "Call of Duty", Fortune said.