New Fortnite server arrives for players in the Middle East

Fariha Bhatti Published 11/08/2019

Fortnite is already a global phenomenon, but its reach continues to grow.

Epic Games announced the opening of a new server in the Middle East, offering a better experience to players in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and India. The news came in a statement on the official Fortnite website, along with a detailed post from the company explaining what it meant for players in the region.

Epic Games expects ping improvements of up to 50% in the southern half of the region.

The new server was installed in order to address issues with high latency in the region and is designed to improve the play experience in the Arabian Peninsula. Situated in Mumbai, India, the server location should increase the quality of games for a sizable chunk of Fortnite’s global player base.

The move comes alongside a shutdown of the established Southeast Asia server due to Epic’s belief that there was not a sufficient player population to support two separate servers in the region. According to the statement, this could have an adverse impact for some.

Many players in the Middle East have been experiencing high ping rates since the game’s launch in 2017. Epic has been seeking to address this for an extended period of time, but has encountered troubles due to the inconsistent interconnection between ISPs throughout the region. The company detailed how they addressed this issue by working with new partners and building a new network for the region.

This is undoubtedly welcome news for players in the area, who have long been calling for an improved experience. In January, the hashtag “#FortniteMiddleEastServers” was shared over 2.3 million times as players shared their experiences, with some experiencing lag as high as 1,000 milliseconds. Players in Europe attempting to play on American servers will typically experience between 100 and 200 ms.

News of the Middle Eastern server launch was leaked on Twitter two days before the announcement by Fortnite data miners. He successfully identified not just the region the servers would be for, but the city as well. His information also included information on 14 other new servers that will be deployed in the future, though these have not yet been confirmed.

Fariha Bhatti

About Fariha Bhatti

Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.

View full profile

Read Also

Fortnite

All Fortnite Gaming Collabs Still Coming to Chapter 7 Season 4 Zachary Roberts Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4 is the gaming season. It is all about gaming, both in overt collaborations and subtle references. Already, Tetris, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man, and more have been featured in the early days of this season. We know for sure that more are on the way. For example, we've seen a trailer for Crash Bandicoot (outfit) and Spyro the Dragon (sidekick) coming soon. But leaks and ...

Fortnite

Opinion: It’s Getting Harder To Ignore Evidence That FNAF Is Coming to Fortnite Zachary Roberts Five Nights at Freddy's, or FNAF, has long been one of the most popular video games out there. Despite the original game's simplistic nature, it spawned sequels, incredible lore, and a film franchise. It has yet, however, to ascend into the rarefied air that is a Fortnite crossover. It has been leaked before. In fact, it was originally leaked in 2021, with subsequent rumors suggesting that it would finally arrive, ...

Fortnite

When does the current Fortnite season end? Zachary Roberts When does the current Fortnite season end? This is a question that’s always important to know the answer to. For one thing, many elements of the season, such as the items and characters, will go away at that time. That is also when players will no longer be able to earn battle pass rewards. The current Fortnite season, Chapter 7 Season 4, began on August 20. It’s expected to run ...

Fortnite

All Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4 Codes and How To Use Them Zachary Roberts In a totally unprecedented move, Fortnite has added lobby hacks or cheat codes to the game for Chapter 7 Season 4. Never before has this been possible, but you can now input codes for different things. It is rather fitting for the season that's all about gaming, as cheat codes and hacks have been a part of this industry for decades. Here are all the codes as well as how ...

News

Has a Fortnite Collaboration Revealed the Kingdom Hearts 4 Release Date? Zachary Roberts There is currently very little information in the public domain about the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 4 from Square Enix. We know the game exists, and we know it's going to be available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC, even if there isn't even a release date yet. There's been no trailer yet, either, just a blink-and-you'll-miss-it teaser from a Nintendo Direct. But a Fortnite collaboration leak, of ...

Esports Betting

MLBB is the most-watched game from the EWC, and it’s hard to see another game beating it Michael Hassall The Esports World Cup 2026 has officially passed its midway point and viewership figures for the tournament have surpassed many expectations so far, as per Esports Charts. The viewership tracking site revealed new statistics for the event on Aug. 6, showcasing just how many games had set new records in viewership, including one name leading the way in views: Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. MLBB leads the viewership charts with the ...

Fortnite

A Guide to All Fortnite Icon Series Skins So Far Zachary Roberts Are you wondering about all the Fortnite Icon Series skins in the game so far? There are plenty, and more are added all the time. These essentially represent real-life people. In some instances, they are also made-up characters that are portrayed by real people. The game is full of collaborations, and this series collabs with real things. For skins, that means people. For emotes, that means real songs or dances. ...