Epic Games gives up on bringing Fortnite to China

The developer has pulled out of the country after a three year attempt

Epic Games' three-year endeavour to bring Fortnite to China, has come to an end. The Unreal engine creators announced that they would be pulling out of the country and would shut down services for the game on November 15.

While Epic had launched the game three years ago, it never officially left Beta and China's strict crackdown on gaming over the years, meant that the market was dwindling.

A report by Bloomberg Businessweek says that things were off to a promising start for the game with 10 million pre-registrations but the strict approval process for games in the country made it very difficult for the company.

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Talking with AFP (via Deccan Herald), Chinese citizens expressed their disappointment over the news with many calling it a pity, that the game had to end services.

Epic launched a test version of the game in 2018 but never got the government's approval for monetization or full release. Epic did not earn any money for the time they spent in the country.

The Chinese Government hasn't authorised a new gaming release in over 100 days. It has cracked down heavily on the gaming industry, introducing severe play time restrictions and a complicated process for approvals for any new release.

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In August, it slashed the amount of time minors could spend playing a game, requiring companies to adhere to the new rules. They could also not promote or provide gaming services to children outside of the allowed hours.