Electronic Arts has issued an official statement via its public relations agency in Europe denying that it has a "paid relationship" with Apple, despite claims the Cupertino giant paid to keep Plants vs. Zombies 2 off Android.

The statement follows a report by Giant Bomb quoting EA Labels head Frank Gibeau as claiming Apple had paid EA a "truckload of money" to delay the Android version of the game at an internal town hall meeting.

Despite the fact the site claims "several sources" confirmed the quote was genuine, EA has claimed no such arrangement between itself and Apple exists.

'Unfortunate misunderstanding'

"A comment from an internal meeting taken out of context has created an unfortunate misunderstanding," says EA's statement.

"Reports of a paid relationship between Apple and EA are factually inaccurate, and we apologise for any confusion."

That's not a denial that Gibeau ever said the words, then, but rather that his words were taken out of context.

It's hard to see what other context they could have been given in – there's a possibility Gibeau may have been joking, perhaps responding to questions as to why the game hadn't yet hit Android. We have contacted EA for clarification.

Apple also issued a short statement following the publishing of the original story, simply labelling it "not true".