{"id":370417,"date":"2021-11-16T17:43:33","date_gmt":"2021-11-16T14:43:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/fortnite-exits-china-as-gov-cracks-down-on-spiritual-opium\/"},"modified":"2021-11-16T17:43:33","modified_gmt":"2021-11-16T14:43:33","slug":"fortnite-exits-china-as-gov-cracks-down-on-spiritual-opium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/fortnite-exits-china-as-gov-cracks-down-on-spiritual-opium\/","title":{"rendered":"#Fortnite exits China as gov cracks down on &#8216;spiritual opium&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#Fortnite exits China as gov cracks down on &#8216;spiritual opium&#8217;<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Fortnite has officially shut down in China just three years after launching amid a government crackdown on gaming and <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> firms.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The shutdown, which the North Carolina-based developer said it completed on Monday, comes as the Chinese government seeks to restrict what one state <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a> outlet called the \u201cspiritual opium\u201d of online gaming. <\/p>\n<p>In August, the government began barring minors from playing video <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>s on school days and allowing just three hours of play during pre-determined hours on the weekends.<\/p>\n<p>One Chinese Fortnite player, a 24-year-old named Zheng, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/hongkongfp.com\/2021\/11\/16\/fortnite-inaccessible-in-china-as-developer-pulls-the-plug\/\">told AFP<\/a> he would \u201cfirst cry for a little\u201d after having spent more than two years playing the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFriends who have played with me, we\u2019ll meet again if fate decrees,\u201d wrote another pensive gamer, according to the outlet.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/fortnite_11.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Fortnite logo\" class=\"wp-image-20159517\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/fortnite_11.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/fortnite_11.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/fortnite_11.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Chinese state media has called video games \u201cspiritual opium.\u201d <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But Epic\u2019s troubles in China began long before this year\u2019s gaming crackdown.<\/p>\n<p>Since Fortnite is free to play, the vast majority of its revenue comes from selling in-game items to players, including pricey virtual outfits from luxury brands like Balenciaga. When Epic launched the Chinese version of Fortnite 2018, the company hoped it would eventually get a government nod that never came.<\/p>\n<p>That means that the Chinese version of Fortnite never made a cent during its three-year lifespan, even as the game brought in $5.1 billion in global revenue in 2020 alone.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/fortnite_09.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"\u201cThank you to everyone who boarded the bus and participated in the Fortnite test!\u201d Epic Games told Chinese Fortnite players.\" class=\"wp-image-20159527\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/fortnite_09.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/fortnite_09.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/fortnite_09.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>\u201cThank you to everyone who boarded the bus and participated in the Fortnite test!\u201d Epic Games told Chinese Fortnite players.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Epic\u2019s exit from the Chinese market also comes weeks after Microsoft shut down the Chinese version of LinkedIn and Yahoo pulled all its services out of the country. Both companies attributed the moves to an increasingly \u201cchallenging\u201d operating environment in the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn 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,\u201d Epic had written in a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/fn.qq.com\/webplat\/info\/news_version3\/10021\/34544\/34546\/m20913\/202110\/903484.shtml\">note<\/a> to Chinese players. \u201cThank you to everyone who boarded the bus and participated in the Fortnite test!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Epic Games did not immediately reply to a request for further comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/fortnite_12.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"\u201cFriends who have played with me, we\u2019ll meet again if fate decrees,\u201d wrote one pensive gamer.\" class=\"wp-image-20159534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/fortnite_12.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/fortnite_12.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/fortnite_12.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>\u201cFriends who have played with me, we\u2019ll meet again if fate decrees,\u201d wrote one pensive gamer.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/11\/16\/fortnite-exits-china-as-gov-cracks-down-on-spiritual-opium\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Fortnite exits China as gov cracks down on &#8216;spiritual opium&#8217;&#8221; Fortnite has officially shut down in China just three years after launching amid a government crackdown on gaming and technology firms.\u00a0 The shutdown, which the North Carolina-based developer said it completed on Monday, comes as the Chinese government seeks to restrict what one state media&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":370418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/fortnite_10.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[119217,4973,27992,80,10751,78495,72990,2815],"class_list":["post-370417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-11-16-21","tag-china","tag-fortnite","tag-games","tag-gaming","tag-mobile-gaming","tag-online-gaming","tag-video-games"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}