Epic Games shuts down Fortnite video game in China

Fortnite, known as Fortress Night in China, has been shut down in the country.

Since Monday 1 November, no new players we able to sign up to the game, but now Epic Games have said "Fortnite China's Beta test has reached an end".

Despite being available to Chinese gamers for over two years, the popular third-person battle royale has always been described as a "test" in the country.

Following the announcement of the shut down earlier in November, the BBC approached Epic Games for a comment but the company have not responded.

Fortnite in China

Fortnite was originally launched in China in 2018 in co-operation with Chinese tech giant Tencent.

Tencent is a Chinese tech company, and one of the biggest gaming companies in the world - a bit like the Disney of video games.

It owns all, some of, or most of the big gaming companies you know - For example, Tencent owns 40% of Epic Games - which makes Fortnite.

If you were to play a video game in China it would probably look and play differently to the games you can buy in the UK.

That's because in China there are rules about the content video games can include.

For example, the Chinese Fortnite, Fortress Night includes a number of changes from the original, including features that limit the time players spend on the game, as well as having no "microtransactions" to buy extra in-game items such as outfits with real money.

Gaming rules in China

People play online video games in a game arcade in Beijing, China

The announcement has been made following a major crackdown on online games by the Chinese government.

The government in the country says it is concerned about the amount of time children spend gaming and has set strict time limits for young people playing online.

In August, the country's video game regulator announced that under-18s would be restricted to only an hour of online gaming on Fridays, weekends and holidays.

Meanwhile there has also been a ban on children live-streaming their gaming sessions, and tighter restrictions on the type of games that will be approved in future for release in China.