Tencent shuts down the Chinese version of Fortnite - PingWest

Tencent shuts down the Chinese version of Fortnite

Fortnite's Chinese version announced on Monday that its long-running test in China will end on November 15.

Details:

In an announcement, the Chinese version said that the game will end on November 15 and quits letting new players sign up on November 1.

The game was not officially launched in China, but it ran for three years under the test mode of excluding some features from the main version like in-app purchases.

Through the partnership with Epic Games, Tencent launched the Chinese version of Fortnite in 2018. The Chinese gaming giant owns a 40% stake in Epic Games.

“The battle royale genre has been strictly regulated in China,” Daniel Ahmad, senior analyst at Niko Partners, tweeted about the shutdown of the Chinese version of Fortnite. “The domestic games that are approved there have heavy content changes.”

Context:

Since the beginning of this year, China has once again strengthened its supervision of the gaming industry, setting limits on the amount of time children are allowed to spend on online games.

In September, citing people familiar with the matter, South China Morning Post said that China has temporarily slowed down approval for all new online games in a bid to curb a gaming addiction among young people

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