Epic Games not working in Russia: launcher, Fortnite and game servers
The Epic Games Launcher won't start, Fortnite can't reach servers, games show connection errors. What's happening with Epic Games and foreign game servers in Russia in 2026, and what helps.
Quick fix. If a game can't reach its servers or the launcher hangs at sign-in, try a VPN with a nearby exit. Get Surok in Telegram: 3 days free, Windows app available.
What's going on. Epic Games suspended commercial operations in Russia in 2022 — store purchases with Russian cards fail — but didn't block access to games. In 2026 a Moscow court fined Epic Games 2 million rubles over personal-data storage; Roskomnadzor says it has no plans to block Fortnite. From 25 January 2026 some players had trouble connecting to foreign game servers (errors in R.E.P.O, VRChat and others), with no official explanation.
What to do. Check Epic's status page; ask friends on another ISP; tether from your phone. Run the launcher as administrator, use a VPN in TUN mode (in system-proxy mode the game bypasses it), pick a nearby server, and make sure the VPN carries UDP. See VPN for games. Don't change your account region for prices — it can get the account banned.