Epic Games asked a US court to temporarily revoke a block on its popular Fortnite game by Apple, claiming it could suffer irreparable damage to its reputation and a permanent loss of users.

In a court filing, Epic Games said daily active users on iOS had already dropped by more than 60 per cent since Apple banned Fortnite in mid-August.

It called for a preliminary injunction against the move, which it said Apple took in “retaliation” in a bid to deter it and others from challenging the US company’s “anti-competitive conduct”.

Epic Games said the financial damage was incalculable, but warned users were likely to defect due to the “loss of Fortnite as a gathering place” for users across all platforms.

The gaming company stated iOS was the most-used platform by Fortnite players, accounting for 116 million of the game’s 350 million users.

Apple lost out in a bid to block Epic Games’ Unreal Engine developer accounts from iOS.

The next court hearing on the case is planned for 28 September.