Video game studio Epic Games claimed that Apple has blocked an update to its popular title Fortnite on Apple’s App Store in the US, as well as through Epic’s own app store in the EU, effectively taking the game offline.

The accusation is the latest development in the long-running legal conflict between the two companies over the iPhone maker’s rules for developers.

Apple said it had not taken any action to remove the live version of Fortnite from third-party app stores, but acknowledged that it had taken issue with the update, without giving details.

Legal fracas

“Apple has blocked our Fortnite submission so we cannot release to the US App Store or to the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union,” Epic said in the official Fortnite account on social media.

“Now, sadly, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it.”

Apple said it had asked Epic Sweden to resubmit the Fortnite update without including the US storefront of the Apple App Store “so as not to impact Fortnite in other geographies”.

“We did not take any action to remove the live version of Fortnite from alternative distribution marketplaces,” Apple said.

Epic submitted Fortnite to the US App Store earlier this month, after a judge in April found Apple in willful violation of an earlier injunction forcing it to allow more competition around app downloads and payment methods in its App Store.

In finding Apple in contempt of court, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers also wrote in her decision that Apple vice president of finance Alex Roman had “outright lied under oath” in statements to the court and referred the case to state attorneys whether to pursue criminal contempt proceedings on both Alex Roman and Apple.

‘Unlawful’

Apple this month asked for a stay of key provisions of the 2021 injunction, saying they were “unlawful” and affected core parts of its business.

Epic has been fighting to be allowed to make sales to players of its iOS games without paying a roughly 30 percent commission to Apple.

It is challenging Apple developer rules that prevent it from providing links to payment methods outside of Apple’s ecosystem.

The company last year launched its own app store in the EU under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act rules.