Epic Games said Fortnite is now unavailable on iPhones and iPads worldwide, as Apple blocked bids for popular video games in the App Store in the U.S. and Europe.

“Apple has blocked submissions from our Futnite submissions, so we cannot release them to the App Store in the U.S. or the Epic Games store in the EU.” Fortnite’s X account was released earlier Friday – claiming that Apple’s moves can now prevent the iOS offerings around the world.

"Sadly, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple untie it," Fortnite said.

Apple said in a statement sent to the Associated Press that it specifically asked Epic Sweden to resubmit an app update, "excluding the App Store's U.S. storefront to avoid affecting Fortnite in other geographic locations." However, the company added that it "has not taken any action to remove the on-site version of Fortnite from the alternative distribution market."

Fortnite's exile from the iPhone App Store is the latest twist in the years of dispute between Apple and Epic. Back in 2020, video game makers filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple in the United States, accusing technology trendsetters of illegally using its power to use it for GOUGE GAME MAKERS.

After a month-long trial in 2021, district judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled against most of Epic's claims, but ordered Apple to loosen its previously exclusive control over the payments made for in-app commerce and allow links to alternative options in the US for the first time – threatening to undercut sizeable commissions that Apple had been collecting from in-app transactions for more than a decade.

After exhausted appeals stretched to the U.S. Supreme Court, Apple introduced a new system last year that opened the door to links to alternative payment options while still imposing 27% of commissions on in-app transactions performed outside its own system.

Epic resumed another round of court hearings by accusing Apple of thumbs up on the fate of the legal system that lasted nearly a year ago, Gonzalez Rogers filed a harsh condemnation last month that made Apple contempt for civil and banned the company from collecting any alternative payment system committees.

The ruling cleared the way for Epic to eventually return to the iPhone App Store in the U.S., a return to the original state that video game makers expected before Apple's latest move.

Meanwhile, Fortnite's availability in the EU will be used for an alternative store for iPhone users - now known as the Epic Games store. Apple cleared the way for this last year under new regulatory pressure.