Apple bans Fortnite video game from its App Store

Epic Games, the maker of the wildly popular Fortnite video game, made a bold move this week: It began encouraging users of its iPhone and Android apps to pay it directly, rather than via Apple or Google.

On Thursday, Apple responded, kicking the Fortnite app out of its App Store and sharply escalating its fight with arguably the world’s most important game company and one of its most lucrative partners.

“Epic enabled a feature in its app which was not reviewed or approved by Apple, and they did so with the express intent of violating the App Store guidelines,” Apple said in a statement. “We will make every effort to work with Epic to resolve these violations so they can return Fortnite to the App Store.”