Epic Games Store Quietly Unblocked In China; No Official Statement Released

Epic Games has sneakily unblocked Epic Games Store in China with no official notice from the company. The Chinese storefront is now globally accessible with regional pricing support.

As reported by Chinese tech website TechWeb, Epic Games Store has been accessible since the morning of May 14th, allowing Chinese gamers to access and purchase games from the store. In fact, players have the option to use AliPay or WeChat for making payments.

Borderlands 3, which costs $59.99, $79.99 and $99.99 for the Standard, Deluxe and Super Deluxe editions respectively in the States, costs $29.99, $49.99 and $69.99 in China, thanks to regional pricing.

The company which once refused to sell games in China because it feared for the safety of its employees in the country has now opened up a Chinese storefront without any official notice. In an interview with VentureBeat, EGS General Manager, Steve Allison said, “The way our competitor operates[talking about Steam] offshore is not legal in China, and they don’t have an office in China. We have employees there, so we are very sensitive to what is legal and what is is not — more for the benefit and safety of our staff. We just don’t want to take any risks that can put them in any legal fire.”

It’s interesting to note that the company released an official announcement when they launched Epic Games Store in Korea. But… what about China?

Is Epic Games operating in China legally? What made them change their decision? Guess we’ll find out. We’ve contacted Epic Games to comment on the situation. We’ll update this article once they respond. Meanwhile, you can check out the Chinese storefront.

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