Fortnite is a massively popular game enjoyed around the world, although players in China will no longer have access to it on November 15, 2021 as the license which allowed Epic to operate in the region will expire.
Though this may seem surprising, analyst Daniel Ahmad shines light on the situation by explaining that technically, Fortnite never launched in China.
“The game has been undergoing testing for the past 2+ years and does not include IAP” he said in a tweet, “This is because the game was never approved by the govt and therefore could not officially launch + monetise. Hense the shutdown now.”
He continues on to explain that the reality is the battle royale genre is far more strictly regulated in the region, with the ones that are approved having changes like “No blood / dead bodies / theme is ‘military training’ and not ‘last man standing etc…PUBG PC wasn’t approved in China either.”
So if Epic never had the game properly monetised in China, the only thing really lost here is potential, though it is still a big loss considering that China is such a big market for video games that still remains largely untapped to its fullest potential, though this shut down is an example of why that is.
Ultimately however it is unfortunate for those in China who played on PS4 or PS5 that they will no longer have access to it.
Source – [Twitter]