Fortnite is shutting down its Chinese version

Epic Games has announced that they’re ending Fortnite China’s Beta test later this month on the 15th of November. 

In an English statement provided to Kotaku, the Fortnite China Operation Team explained that “on Monday, November 15 at 11 am, we will turn off servers for Fortnite, and players will no longer be able to connect to the game through the WeGame client.”

In the statement, the China Operation Team did not give an explanation of just why the servers would be shutting down, but industry analyst Daniel Ahmad believes it comes down to cold hard cash, saying that “the cost of changes / operating the game / extending the license does not make sense anymore.”

It’s important to note that Fortnite never officially launched in China, as it has been in a state of ongoing beta testing for the past two years. This is due to the game never being approved by the Chinese government, which meant it couldn’t officially launch or monetize which has left the game haemorrhaging cash. 

In the Chinese version of Fortnite, Epic Games had to make a number of changes to the standard version of the game. These changes include the removal of blood, skulls, dead bodies, and a change in theme to make the game more focused on military training rather than being the last man standing.