The company Epic Games has thrown in the towel this Monday with the Chinese version of its popular video game Fortnite, after three years trying to establish itself in the world’s largest online gaming market, due to the measures taken by the government to combat the addiction of young people to digital entertainment.
The company had announced two weeks earlier that on November 15 it would shut down the Chinese version of the game, stating that “the Fornite China Beta test has come to an end”, and disconnect the servers.
Users in China said on Monday they could no longer access the game, and posted farewells on the Weibo social network.
“Friends who have played with me, we will see you again if luck permits,” wrote a Weibo user.
Another identified as Zheng, 24, told AFP that “first I’m going to cry a little” because of the game he had used for two years in college.
The decision ends Fortnite’s extensive trial period created for China, where there is strict surveillance of violent content.
The action video game, with shootouts and world-building, is one of the most popular in the world with more than 350 million users, greater than the population of the United States.
The video game started in China in 2018 on a trial basis, but it never received a final authorization from the government for its release and commercialization.
The decision to suspend the game comes as China tightens the rules for the digital sector.
Video games represent an important source of income in China, but are criticized for being addictive for young people.
SEVERE CONTROLS
In August, authorities imposed a drastic limit of three hours of video games per week on those under 18, when some could spend entire days glued to the screen.
Fortnite is free to download but generates billions of dollars in revenue from the sale of additional items for the characters, particularly the costumes.
The game quickly became a worldwide phenomenon, to the point that some games were followed live by millions of viewers.
In September, hundreds of Chinese video game producers, including Tencent, pledged to better monitor their products to avoid “politically harmful” content and to restrict the age of gamers to comply with government regulations.
Beijing’s attempts to tighten control over the economy have hit several industries, particularly tech firms.
Given this, Microsoft announced in October that it would close the Chinese version of its social network aimed at professionals, LinkedIn, while Yahoo decided a few weeks ago to withdraw from the country. Both companies cited the growing obstacles to doing business in China as the main reason for their decisions.
