We may earn a commission when you buy through links in our articles. Learn more.

Fortnite will launch on Tencent’s WeGame service

Fortnite Blockbuster

Looks like Fortnite, the hottest game of the moment – if you acknowledge that at this point it’s a pretty lengthy moment – is coming to WeGame. WeGame is the recently-refurbished digital shop and social platform managed by Tencent, the enormous Chinese publisher. Last night Tencent tweeted an image announcing the world’s most popular battle royale will come to its platform on July 24.

Given that Tencent’s long-running shopping spree in western games companies included the purchase of a 40% stake in Fortnite developer-publisher Epic Games in 2013, its appearance on WeGame was probably only a matter of time.

Looking for more like Fortnite? Click here for the best battle royales on PC.

But don’t let its predictability detract from the significance of this news. Just this week, Tencent announced that it was building an international version of WeGame that will launch in Hong Kong and be “available for overseas users”. Likely spurred in part by last month’s announcement of Steam China, Tencent seems to be gearing up to take on Valve’s dominant platform around the globe, and hosting Fortnite natively – which Steam does not do – will give it an edge.

Here’s the tweet, featuring WeGame and Fortnite in the captions, and a WeGame mascot rendered in Fortnite’s engine. The noticeboard suggests a date: 7/24.

In other Fortnite news, season five is just around the corner, heralded by a bizarre ARG in which objects from Fortnite’s world – from llamas to fast food mascots – are manifesting in ours. Click here for the Fortnite season 5 release date (hint: it’s Thursday) as well as everything else we know about what changes it might usher in, from its theme to the probable new battle pass.