Epic Games, which owns Fortnite , has so far provided no explanation or reason to justify its decision to shut down the popular online shooter game. Just a few days ago, and through a statement, the company announced that the game, which has been available in China in trial version for the last two years, would come to an end on November 15.
Problems with Chinese government restrictions
China sets very strict limits on how long children can play online. This combat game of the last player standing mode (the one who lasts the longest without being eliminated wins) stopped new registrations on November 1, according to the document, two weeks before the planned closure.
The game originally launched in China in 2018, in cooperation with the country’s tech giant Tencent. Many Western games need to be modified significantly for the Chinese market, for both regulatory and cultural reasons.
In addition, the government of the Asian giant imposes extremely restrictive censorship criteria , so most of the games that come from the West must be modified, especially in the plots, although sometimes also in the appearance of the characters, their characterization, the dialogues, and even the scenarios where the game takes place.
The cultural and ideological aspect is extremely important for the government of the country, so it does not allow a product from the West to disturb the ideological postulates and the norms of behavior that govern the lives of more than one billion people.
This means that, in order to access the juicy Chinese market , many developer companies have to invest enormous amounts of money in carrying out the necessary modifications so that their products enter the country, and some do not pay off if later the title does not have success with the complicated Chinese public.
Concern about youth playtime
Fortress Night includes a number of changes from the original Fortnite , including several measures aimed at limiting the time that players (especially younger ones) spend in front of the screen. They have also had to remove all in-game purchase options , with which users can purchase additional items for real money. A function that is fully implemented in the title that is marketed in the West.
In August, China’s video game regulator announced that those under 18 would be restricted to just one hour of online gaming on Fridays, weekends and holidays. The government has long been very concerned about the number of hours young people spend playing video games, and they have even called online games the “spiritual opium.” That is why the legislation there is so strict, because it tries to control this from the government institutions themselves.
In announcing the closure of their Chinese version of Fortnite , Epic Games wrote, “Thank you to all the Fortnite China players who have traveled with us on the Battle Bus by participating in the Beta.”
