Is Fortnite shutting down? Rumours about the game ending are unfounded – it is going nowhere

CultureGaming The popular Battle Royale game is the current subject of rumours that it is to be completely shut down at little to no notice

Saturday, 11th January 2020, 10:25 am

Updated Saturday, 11th January 2020, 1:46 pm

Following rumours that some of the biggest games in the world - including Roblox and Minecraft - will be shut down, the spurious hearsay has made its way to Fortnite.

The popular Battle Royale game is the current subject of whispers that it is to be completely shut down at little to no notice, rendering the famous game unplayable to its millions of worldwide fans.

But that's simply not true, of course.

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These rumours seem to crop up every other month, usually sparked by a forum post reporting to have insider knowledge from the creators of the game that its servers are about to be shut down.

Here's everything we know about them:

Read More

Is Roblox shutting down? Rumours about the game ending are false, and it's not going anywhere

Where did the rumours come from?

In fact, these rumours are so rife, that it's actually hard to track down where this particular one came from.

Rumblings about Fortnite coming to an end in this instance seem to stem from prank website React2424, the same site which spawned the rumours of Roblox and Minecraft's ending.

React2424 lets people mess with their friends by spawning fake headlines, but whichever prevalent internet trickster sowed the seeds of doubt, they wanted people to believe that the game would be coming to an end in June 2020.

React2424 bizarrely report that the game is finishing this year thanks to there being "too many players", but the idea that it somehow became "too popular" to be sustained just doesn't really make a lot of sense.

Similar rumours have come from fake accounts purporting to be developers Epic Games on Twitter, and have stated the reasons behind Fortnite's "shutting down" to be everything from lawsuits to the unending development of the game becoming too demanding for the team.

Is Fortnite shutting down?

Much like the recent Roblox and Minecraft rumours, the reports of Fortnite's imminent demise are also entirely unfounded.

Though the popularity of Fortnite has been waning slightly in recent months, the game still brought in $1.8 billion (£1.3 billion) in revenue for creators Epic Games in 2019.

It was the second year in a row that Fortnite has made more money than any other video game.

It really wouldn't make much sense for such an incredibly successful (not to mention profitable) video game to suddenly shut down.

What is Fortnite?

(Image: Epic Games)

If you've somehow missed the Fortnite hype train, and have only found your way here after listening to your child's concerns that their favourite game may be shutting down in the future, allow us to fill you in.

Fortnite: Battle Royale is a free multiplayer game that spans Windows and Mac, Xbox, Nintendo, and PlayStation platforms, and pits players against 99 others in a frantic fight for survival on an island where the last gamer standing is the winner.

Its bright, cartoon-like graphics prevent it from descending into bloody violence, and while the game is free to play,  it does contain in-game purchases to buy outfits, weapons and other helpful items.

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