Beijing – AFP

The popular “Fortnight” game, used by millions around the world, was completely banned from users in China on Monday, just before the deadline set by the US company that created it.
Epic Games announced earlier this month that it would discontinue its “Fortnight” version in China in light of the restrictions imposed by Beijing to tighten its grip on the digital industry. These restrictions do not exclude the video game industry, which generates huge revenue for the country, but faces criticism as many young gamers become addicted to video games.
In August, authorities imposed stricter restrictions on the period allowed for video games for people under the age of 18 three hours a week, while some children play long hours in front of the screen.
Since 2018, “Fortnite” includes a beta version dedicated to China; Violent, abusive and politically sensitive content is closely monitored.
Since the beginning of this month, “Fortnite” has stopped accepting new players in China, and “Epic Games” announced that its investors include “Tencent”, the largest Chinese group in the Internet industry. Fortnight players in China did not hide their sadness at the end of this game in the country.
“I don’t understand the reason for the quick stop,” Ding said. According to 24-year-old Jing, a fan of the game, he said: “I want to cry,” explaining that he played “Fortnight” for two years at university.

Global phenomenon

“Fortnight” is classified as one of the most popular video games in the world; It has more than 350 million users than the population of the United States.
Co-op games are based on the interactions of online players in hostile areas. Every player on the team tries to be the same firm until the end.
This material is of great interest in China; It was viewed more than 470 million times on the local social networking site Weibo as of Monday afternoon.
Fortnight, which is free to download, generates billions of dollars in revenue as players purchase additional items for their characters, including costumes.
The game quickly became a global phenomenon, with millions of spectators watching some of the clashes.
Thanks to this huge visit, in recent months, “Fortnite” began to collaborate with celebrities appearing locally for a period of time in the form of digital avatars.
And “Fortnight” has become the third largest name in the tech world to leave China in less than a month.
Yahoo, one of the most popular Internet companies of the 2000s, announced in early November that it would suspend operations in China due to “growing problems in the business and legal environment”.

“Mental Health”

Also, the LinkedIn Network for Professional Relations, which is part of the Microsoft Group, announced last month that it was leaving China due to the “difficult environment” in the country.
The giant group has also been one of the few American companies to run its own social application in China, despite severe censorship.
In 2014, Microsoft became the first foreign company to invest in the largest Chinese market for video games through its Xbox One.
In 2000, Beijing suspended the sale of all video game consoles because they had a negative effect on the “mental health” of young users. But despite this, these devices were in the country illegally.