The online video game Fortnite, which brings together millions of online followers around the world, will withdraw from China, its publisher, the American Epic Games, announced in a statement on Sunday.
“
On November 15 at 11 am, we will shut down the game's servers and players [in China] will no longer be able to connect,
” Epic Games said.
Already since Monday, the game no longer accepts new players in China, specifies the company, which counts among its shareholders the Chinese giant of the Internet Tencent.
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Fortnite
" is one of the most popular games in the world, with more than 350 million users, more than the American population.
Launched in 2017, Fortnite is a so-called “
battle royale
” game, where participants seek to be the last to survive.
While Fortnite is free to download, it generates billions in revenue with the purchase by players of additional content, such as outfits and dance moves, for their characters.
The game has a specific version in China where violent, obscene or politically sensitive content is strictly regulated.
LinkedIn also plans to leave
Its closure in China comes at a time when the communist power tightens the screw on the digital sector. The Chinese authorities, which are particularly picky about competition and personal data issues, have pinned down several heavyweights in the sector for practices hitherto widely tolerated. Video games, which in China represent a significant financial windfall but are criticized for their addictive side among young people, has not been spared. In August, the authorities imposed a drastic limit of 3 hours of video games per week for those under 18, while some could spend days glued to their screens.
Citing a "
difficult environment
", the professional social network LinkedIn of Microsoft also announced last month its next withdrawal from China.