![]() And action-adventure game Grand Theft Auto, published by New York-based Rockstar Games, was banned for being overly violent, says Ahmad. game firm Electronic Arts, was denied a license for portraying China in a negative light. First-person shooter game Battlefield, developed by Swedish firm EA DICE and published by U.S. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, or PUBG as it’s commonly known, is a battle royal shooter game that also failed to obtain approval for its PC version (despite its mobile version being highly popular in China), after regulators introduced more stringent game approval rules over the past few years. Western games, particularly battle royal games that feature violence, tend to face heavy censorship and content changes from state regulators. Gaming firms should “fully recognize the importance and urgency to tackle video gaming addiction… has affected studies and normal life,” the NPPA said in a statement.įortnite’s shutdown in China is only the latest-and likely won’t be the last-in a long string of video game bans in the country as Chinese authorities tighten their control over the industry, analysts say. Extremely difficult climateĮarlier this year, a Chinese state-run newspaper decried online games as “spiritual opium.” A few weeks later, in August, Beijing cracked down on the video game industry when China’s National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) restricted children’s video-game playing time to no more than three hours per week. The lack of revenue probably set the stage for Epic and its China partner, Tencent, to close the game when faced with Beijing’s gaming crackdown, says Daniel Ahmad, senior analyst at video game research firm Niko Partners. Fortnite’s lack of an official license to fully operate means the game couldn’t be monetized through features like in-app purchases. Fortress Night-as Fortnite is known in China-was originally introduced to the Chinese market in 2018 as a beta version, but regulatory approval for a full launch in the country never materialized. The current tough climate for game studios, especially foreign ones, has compounded what was already a problematic situation for Fortnite. “Given the recent signals from the government, the drought might continue,” he said. Toto adds that a “whopping 103 days” have passed since any new game has been officially approved for release. The reasons for Fortnite’s closure are likely both recent and long-standing.īeijing has in recent months cracked down on gaming, and the “extremely difficult climate for game studios in China right now” is the likeliest reason for Fortnite shutting down in the country, says Serkan Toto, CEO and founder of consultancy Kantan Games. 12, the company announced on its website.Įpic, headquartered in Cary, N.C., didn’t specify a reason for the closure, but Fortnite China thanked “all the players who boarded the Battle Bus and participated in the test run with us!” Epic Games, the developer behind Fortnite, stopped all new user registrations on Monday, while the game server will be shut down completely on Nov.
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