Fortnite China Is Shutting Down

It was a short-lived affair, but now, Epic Games has officially drawn the curtain on Fortnite China. The battle royale title is a hit around the world, so it makes sense that you'd want to cash in on the most populated country. 

China also has a booming gaming market, and while restrictions are different to those in the West, Epic wanted a piece of the action by porting the popularity of Fortnite to a new region. It's important to remember Fortnite China was only ever billed as a test - so we guess it didn't work out great.

When Is Fortnite China Shutting Down?

The news broke on the official Fortnite China site - confirming it's the end of the road for the game's servers. Although there are no details on how successful Fortnite China was, it clearly wasn't enough to sustain the idea. As of today (November 1), newcomers won't be able to download or register for the title. In just two weeks time, the servers will be axed on November 15. 

With servers officially closing in a matter of days, it remains to be seen whether anyone will really miss Fortnite China. Epic hasn't revealed the player count - or really given much of a reason at all - however, it was a very different version of Fortnite in China. It's interesting that Epic has gone with the "stop testing" tagline to seemingly suggest it was always going to be temporary. 

What Was Different In Fortnite China?

There were a lot of differences when it came to Fortnite China. For a start, match times were shorter, meaning multiple winners were crowned if you could survive 20 minutes. Other tweaks included a separate health bar for storm damage and censorship on some of the more macabre themes. For example, any skins featuring bones (like skeletons) had to be reworked. 

Elsewhere, could this have something to do with China's recent crackdown on kids and gaming? Fortnite's audience is notoriously younger than most other games, and it seems like there's some convenient timing with the announcement that the government is restricting how much time children can play for. Once upon a time, Fortnite was completely banned in China due to its themes of violence, so we're lucky we saw it at all.