After EA denies Apple payoff, Plants vs. Zombies 2 hits Android

Just days after it was accused of holding back an Android version of Plants vs. Zombies 2 thanks to a deal with Apple, EA has begun the game's roll out on Google's platform.

The Android version of the tower defence game launched "successfully" in China last month, and it's now launching preliminary western markets for monetisation playtesting in Australia and New Zealand.

A press release from PopCap notes that "the full global release of Plants vs. Zombies 2 for Android will launch shortly."

The timing of the soft launch isn't optimal for EA, as studio head Frank Gibeau was recently quoted as saying that "Apple gave us a truckload of money to delay the Android version [of Plants vs Zombies 2]".

EA quickly denied that it has a "paid relationship" with Apple, and clarified Gibeau's comment as "an unfortunate misunderstanding" which was taken out of context.

Intriguingly, EA did not deny that Gibeau made the now-famous comment but rather insists that there was some mitigating context lost when the quote made its way online.