Auroch Digital has confirmed that their title Endgame: Syria has been rejected by Apple for the App Store. Already available on Android, certain amendments will have to be made so it doesn’t run afoul of the guideline that games not “solely target a specific race, culture, a real government or corporation, or any other real entity”.
“We had hoped that Apple would be more nuanced in how they applied this rule but we got a bit worried when it had been in submission for around two weeks without a decision,” said game designer Tomas Rawlings. “We then figured that because of the controversy of using the gaming medium to cover an ongoing war meant passing the game had become an issue for them.”
Rawlings says some of the changes for iOS will “strip some of the meaning and context from it”. Apple’s ruling on Endgame: Syria has resulted in a widespread conversation about free speech and Apple’s regulation of app content.
“Our aim is to use games as a format to bring news to a new audience and submission processes such as this do make it a lot harder for us,” added Rawlings. “I get that Apple want to make sure really offensive titles don’t pass into their store, but ours is far from that.”
