Epic Games faced a second setback in a lawsuit challenging Apple’s App Store rules, failing to obtain the right to reinstate its popular game Fortnite for iOS devices.

A US district court judge ruled against Epic Games’ request for a preliminary injunction against Apple’s block on Fortnite.

Despite having “strong arguments regarding Apple’s exclusive distribution through the iOS App Store, and the in-app purchase (IAP) system through which Apple takes 30 per cent of certain IAP payments”, the game developer had not “sufficiently addressed Apple’s counter arguments”, the judge said.

The court also repeated an earlier decision to ban Apple’s attempt to block access to Epic Games’s Unreal Engine developer toolkit for iOS and Mac.

Epic Games previously attempted to bring Fortnite back to the App Store, but the court dismissed the plea, saying the developer could make changes to comply with Apple’s policies.

The row started in August, when Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store after Epic Games introduced a direct payment option for its titles on the iOS and Android platforms.