App Store reviewers rejecting games for depicting guns or violence in screenshots - report
Apple may have altered its guidelines for marketing violent games in the App Store, as reviewers are reportedly rejecting some games that have guns or show human violence in their screenshots or app icons.
Apple reportedly asked Team Chaos to alter the original icon for Rooster Teeth vs. Zombiens, left, because it depicted an NES zapper gun.
Multiple game developers have been forced to alter their games' App Store promotional materials to remove images of guns and violence, according to PocketGamer. Among those that ran afoul of the new criteria was Splash Damage's recently-released Tempo, which now features guns censored via pixelation in its screenshots.
Pascal Bestebroer, the developer behind pixel-art shooter Gunslugs 2 --?which initially suffered a rejection, but was later accepted without any changes --?told Kotaku that he believes Apple is worried about cleaning up areas of the App Store which are not behind an age gate.
"The idea behind it, from what I understand, is that even tho the app has a 12+ rating, they do need icons and screenshots and basically the store-page to be 4+ rated," he wrote. "So screenshots should not show anything that is below the 12+ rating.. which is a bit hard to do for most action games."
If Apple has altered its criteria, the new standards are not being applied evenly. Playdemic's Gang Nations, last updated on Wednesday, shows cartoon gang members pointing revolvers at each other, for instance.
Apple has stayed officially silent on the issue, but Jim Dalrymple of The Loop notes that the company has been "more liberal" about screenshots and images. "I don't know the specifics of individual games," Dalrymple wrote, "but overall, Apple is being more lenient of late."
Apple reportedly asked Team Chaos to alter the original icon for Rooster Teeth vs. Zombiens, left, because it depicted an NES zapper gun.
Multiple game developers have been forced to alter their games' App Store promotional materials to remove images of guns and violence, according to PocketGamer. Among those that ran afoul of the new criteria was Splash Damage's recently-released Tempo, which now features guns censored via pixelation in its screenshots.
Pascal Bestebroer, the developer behind pixel-art shooter Gunslugs 2 --?which initially suffered a rejection, but was later accepted without any changes --?told Kotaku that he believes Apple is worried about cleaning up areas of the App Store which are not behind an age gate.
"The idea behind it, from what I understand, is that even tho the app has a 12+ rating, they do need icons and screenshots and basically the store-page to be 4+ rated," he wrote. "So screenshots should not show anything that is below the 12+ rating.. which is a bit hard to do for most action games."
If Apple has altered its criteria, the new standards are not being applied evenly. Playdemic's Gang Nations, last updated on Wednesday, shows cartoon gang members pointing revolvers at each other, for instance.
Apple has stayed officially silent on the issue, but Jim Dalrymple of The Loop notes that the company has been "more liberal" about screenshots and images. "I don't know the specifics of individual games," Dalrymple wrote, "but overall, Apple is being more lenient of late."
Comments
Apple's store, Apple's rules.
Yes, but that seems like an excessively overgeneralized rule. If an NES gun depicted in cartoon form isn't allowed will they also not allow paint guns and other handheld devices?
Doesn't matter.
Give me a walled garden over Android any day. In fact, I'd be more than happy if they were even stricter over what icons are allowed for apps.
At the moment, the App Store is crying out for an overhaul. Thousands upon thousands of apps need to disappear like yesterday, and we need subcategories, subcategories of subcategories and more subcategories (TS).
They go finger bang.
Man, people are such wimps these days.
Utter psychosis. This’ll be reversed.
On the one hand, I can understand wanting to childproof the store, since kids can browse it without entering an Apple ID.
On the other hand, it misleads customers as to what kind of images, etc. the game contains -- even if there's an age warning.
Ahem.
I present Dalrymple: http://www.loopinsight.com/2015/02/12/about-apple-cracking-down-on-app-store-screenshots/
Thank you.
Ahem.
I present Dalrymple: http://www.loopinsight.com/2015/02/12/about-apple-cracking-down-on-app-store-screenshots/
Thank you.
Ahem. I present literally the entire last paragraph of the article:
Quote:
Apple has stayed officially silent on the issue, but Jim Dalrymple of The Loop notes that the company has been "more liberal" about screenshots and images. "I don't know the specifics of individual games," Dalrymple wrote, "but overall, Apple is being more lenient of late."
These sort of inexplicable policy enforcement changes happen from time to time, and seem to be tied to one individual, either a manager or an individual contributor.
We have seen this sort of manic behavior from other sites like BoingBoing's forum moderation under Teresa Nielsen Hayden's watch, probably a benchmark for people not suited for forum moderation performing that task.
Wouldn't the depiction of another company's intellectual property in the app icon constitute a violation of Apple's guidelines? I think so.
Regarding the blurring of gun images in preview screens... Just guessing that because the iOS App Store is international numerous countries probably have bans on certain images?
That wasnt there when I posted lol, or I REALLY missed it.
when did this country become full of such overprotective wimps!?
1968 or so.
Nazi symbols are a no-no in Germany, I know that's an issue for Wolfenstein.
Worked for me when I was young. That was back when a kid could bring a gun to school as long as it was unloaded. Of course no one even thought about shooting up a school. It just wasn't done.
Just swap out the guns for mobile phones.
Worked for me when I was young. That was back when a kid could bring a gun to school as long as it was unloaded. Of course no one even thought about shooting up a school. It just wasn't done.
Who in their right mind would bring a gun to school even if is was unloaded.What year was this may i ask?