Last week Fortnite tweeted a teaser of a passport with a stamp from China on it leading some to think a new skin or new map would be added to the game. Yesterday those rumours were squashed as Tencent announced they would be expanding Fortnite to China.
Tencent is a massive Chinese investment company most notably known for bringing popular online multiplayer games to China through its own platform, WeGame. Tencent is the largest Chinese game publisher with investments in PUBG Corporation, Hi-Rez Studios, and now Epic Games. As the sole distributor and publisher of Fortnite in China and they will reportedly spend $15 million (£10.7m) on marketing and esports.
Players have already been able to play in China but have been forced to play on other countries servers. As Tencent adds Chinese servers those players will be able to carry their progress over so they don’t lose their win records or favourite skins. Pre-registration is now open for Chinese servers.
Available on PC, Console, and Mobile, Fortnite has more than 45 million players with the popularity bound to grow as they reach China.
Esports Insider says: You know your game has reached next level when Tencent gets involved. This major investment into Epic Games and expansion to China with certainly grow Fortnite to new levels especially when an esports league is announced.