(Yicai Global) Aug. 14 – Apple and Google’s decision to drop from their app stores a popular video game by Epic Games, part owned by Tencent Holdings, has no connection with the Chinese internet giant, according to one of China’s biggest brokerages.

Fortnite’s removal yesterday was the result of a commercial dispute between Epic Games and the two companies and had nothing to do with Tencent, Guotai Junan Securities said today.

Tencent’s shares [HKG: 0700] fell 1.6 percent at the open on concerns that the game’s removal was a veiled US sanction against Tencent,whose billion-user WeChat super app faces a ban in the US from Sept. 15. The stock ended 0.7 percent lower at HKD506.5 (USD65.34).

The game’s removal was not a sanction against Tencent by the United States government and had no direct impact on the Shenzhen-based company, Guotai Junan said. But investors still need to watch whether the Trump administration will take further action on Tencent’s overseas gaming business, it added.

Tencent’s two other games, PUBG Mobile and Honor of Kings, were the world’s top earning titles last month.

Apple and Google pulled the game for allegedly violating their in-app payment rules. Epic yesterday offered a new in-app purchase option along with a 20 percent discount for players who paid it directly. That bypassed Apple and Google’s app stores and skirted the 30 percent cut the two take from developers. After they removed Fortnite, Epic filed a 60-page antitrust lawsuit in response.

Tencent owns 40 percent of Epic Games, which is a financial investment and does not carry over to games turnover, Guotai Junan said. Moreover, Fortnite not only runs on mobile phones, it also operates on PC, Xbox, Switch, Mac and Play Station, all of which are Epic’s sources of income, the brokerage added.

Editor: Peter Thomas