UK studio ustwo has been facing some stern questions about the Papa Quash game it published for iPhone earlier this week. Suggestions that it was a clone of a console game called Johann Sebastian Joust by Die Gute Fabrik led to a furious reaction from fellow developers on Twitter.

So? The game is being pulled. Steve Bittan, ustwo’s marketing boss, emailed me tonight with an update on what’s happening. He’s now spoken to Doug, the developer at Die Gute Fabrik, who told him that “he feels that he did not give Sam the permission”.

(Sam being Sam Pepper, who came up with Papa Quash, and who claimed earlier this week that he’d told Die Gute Fabrik about his game, and got their go-ahead to carry on with it. ustwo developed it for him and published it on the App Store).

“We are pulling the app ASAP,” says Bittan. So there you have it.

The row is likely to rumble on – Die Gute Fabrik is still preparing a full statement on the affair – but as things look, ustwo has taken the only correct option in the circumstances. That said, attention will now turn back to Pepper, who will hopefully provide his own take on his conversation with the JS Joust developer. Both deserve to have their say.