'Fortnite' Coming to China on April 23?
"Fortnite," arguably the most popular game on the planet right now, might be headed to China next week. Epic Games has teased at the possibility of social media which, if true, would see the game take one of the biggest game markets worldwide.
Fans of the game who have been trying to figure out if an ominous meteor is about to level Tilted Towers now have two mysteries to puzzle out. Epic Game's announcement on Twitter last Friday, April 20, is vague, at best, showing only what looks like a set of "Fortnite" passports, one open to a person named "Jonesy" with an issue date of April 2018.
There's a stamp on an empty page, one that says "China," and under it, the date for Monday, April 23, 2018. There are also a few "Fortnite" items like a blueprint and a builder's satchel as seen in the photo on the Twitter post.
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"The Battle Bus is taking off! Destination, China," was all Epic Games wrote for a caption in this cryptic social media post.
"Fortnite" might have an easier time compared to "PUBG" to appeal not just to players, but also to the stringent screeners who would check if the game complies with Chinese laws, as VG 247 noted. The game is already the biggest Battle Royale title on the market shortly after passing "PUBG," and "Fortnite's" colorful, cartoony characters will have a better chance of passing censorship laws in the country.
It's not yet established if "Fortnite" is being launched in China, and even fewer details are known on whether Epic Games will be publishing the game over there itself. "PUBG," for example, had to partner up with Chinese game publishing giant Tencent to get around a ban in China.
It just so happens that Tencent owns a sizeable stake in Epic Games, which would probably smooth things over when it comes to a possible China launch. Tencent has a 40 percent stake in the company and is in a very good position to handle launching "Fortnite" in China, either for consoles or on mobile.
If Tencent does go through with publishing "Fortnite" in China under its name, it would be at least the fourth Battle Royale game that the company has launched in the country. Tencent has two "PUBG" derivatives launched in late February this year.
One is called "PUBG: Exhilarating Battlefield," a mobile version by Lightspeed & Quantum Studio that aims to bring the original "PUBG" experience to mobile, and the other is called "PUBG: Army Attack," an officially endorsed update of the "PUBG" formula that makes it less realistic and more arcade-like. With the official "PUBG" mobile now out as well, Tencent has at least three Battle Royale games out in the Chinese market even before "Fortnite."
More details about a possible "Fortnite" launch in China are expected to surface by Monday, April 23.
