Apple says it didn’t remove Fortnite from European app marketplaces, following confusion over the game’s status amid its planned return to the U.S. App Store.
In a statement on Friday to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, an Apple spokesperson said the company “did not take any action to remove the live version of Fortnite from alternative distribution marketplaces” in the European Union.
Apple said it had only asked Epic’s European division—Epic Sweden—to “resubmit the app update without including the US storefront of the App Store so as not to impact Fortnite in other geographies.” Apple said, “We did not take any action to remove the live version of Fortnite from alternative distribution marketplaces.”
The comments came after Fortnite maker Epic Games attempted to bring back the game to the U.S. App Store last week, more than three years after Apple banned it during a high-profile legal fight over in-app payments.
That push followed a recent U.S. court decision that requires Apple to allow developers to guide users to alternative payment methods outside of Apple’s system.
Earlier this week, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney slammed Apple for allowing fake Fortnite apps in the App Store, but not approving its latest app submission.
Epic said it initially submitted Fortnite for approval last week but, after not receiving a response from Apple, pulled the submission on Wednesday and reuploaded the game with updated content to match what’s currently live on other platforms. The game of cat and mouse continues, it seems.
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