Fortnite China Shuts Down This Month

Even if you’ve never dropped from the party bus, you’ve probably heard of Epic Games’ Fortnite. The cartoonish battle royale has a lasting impact on many entertainment sectors. It is characterized by large-scale concerts and crossovers, generous content rollouts and record breaking Twitch views, as well as numerous references to pop culture. However, many of Fortnite’s various features have been stripped away in China. Fortnite China, as it’s known, is an exclusive test build of the popular game that’s been fine-tuned to abide by Chinese media laws. The test build for Fortnite China has been shut down.

According to a KotakuReport: The official Fortnite China website announced that the server had been shut down. This decision might be linked to China’s notoriously strict gaming laws. It was earlier this year. CNNChina bans kids below 18 from gaming on weekdays. A one-hour limit is placed on Saturdays, Sundays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Moreover, laws targetting violence in media (skins with skull imagery, for example, are outright absent or modified) and gambling prevented Fortnite China from showcasing certain cosmetics and including a microtransaction-focused storefront. As a result of the last change, Chinese players received 400 V Bucks per week. They could also purchase battle passes and other packages for free. 

Perhaps, the most interesting change comes in the form of Fortnite China’s in-game backstory. According to the wiki, Fortnite China’s backstory is revealed in the test build. It states that all enemies in the game take place at a Training Ground.

“HP is referred to as Battery Life. The signal bar that they have is called a storm bar. Its loss results in your hologram being ‘disconnected’, effectively eliminating you. These changes are put in place to remove any connotations of violent content in the game, as this is illegal under Chinese Law, especially for games played by minors.”

Fortnite China is ending on November 15

[Source: Kotaku & CNN]