Apple rejects indie game The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth over child violence
The sequel to cult indie game The Binding of Isaac will not be allowed in the App Store -- at least for now -- thanks to what Apple has reportedly deemed to be themes of violence toward children.
"Your app contains content or features that depict violence towards, or abuse of, children, which is not allowed on the App [Store]," an Apple reviewer wrote in a rejection notice tweeted by studio head Tyrone Rodriguez. The missive was first noted by Polygon.
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is an update to the cult indie hit The Binding of Isaac, based on the biblical story of the same name. In the story, God commands Abraham to sacrifice Isaac -- his son -- as a test of faith; the sacrifice is halted by the angel of God before it can be carried out.
In the game, Isaac is a young boy whose mother is similarly inclined. Players work to help Isaac escape from the basement, culminating in a boss battle against his mother.
This is not the first time The Binding of Isaac has faced opposition from a platform owner. In 2012, Nintendo rejected a planned 3DS port over "questionable religious content" -- though Rebirth was allowed to launch on the 3DS and Wii U last year.
Apple, too, has faced criticism over its censorship of the App Store. In 2014, the company banned marijuana growing game Weed Firm and last year squabbled with developers over confederate flag imagery in some Civil War games.
"Your app contains content or features that depict violence towards, or abuse of, children, which is not allowed on the App [Store]," an Apple reviewer wrote in a rejection notice tweeted by studio head Tyrone Rodriguez. The missive was first noted by Polygon.
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is an update to the cult indie hit The Binding of Isaac, based on the biblical story of the same name. In the story, God commands Abraham to sacrifice Isaac -- his son -- as a test of faith; the sacrifice is halted by the angel of God before it can be carried out.
In the game, Isaac is a young boy whose mother is similarly inclined. Players work to help Isaac escape from the basement, culminating in a boss battle against his mother.
This is not the first time The Binding of Isaac has faced opposition from a platform owner. In 2012, Nintendo rejected a planned 3DS port over "questionable religious content" -- though Rebirth was allowed to launch on the 3DS and Wii U last year.
Apple, too, has faced criticism over its censorship of the App Store. In 2014, the company banned marijuana growing game Weed Firm and last year squabbled with developers over confederate flag imagery in some Civil War games.
Comments
I've lost hope by now. It's really sad to say that after 20 years of loyal Mac gaming, but my next gaming PC is arguably going to be just that. A PC.
Apple has allowed the following into the App Store:
which is 18-rated and Binding of Isaac isn't that explicit. They need to treat games the same way they treat books and films and do it consistently.
Apple is a liberal company with liberal employees and I don't understand why it is that there's a tendency these days for people with these values to shy away from offending anyone. It's supposed to be the opposite. Liberal movements over the years have fought against censorship. It doesn't mean supporting everything that offends people, tolerance doesn't equate to support but you don't censor mildly offensive things like this.
They just need to do what they enforce in apps, which is that offensive material is hidden by default. They can still ban really explicit content but just hide things that might cause offense behind a warning and let people be the judge. I wouldn't hide this game at all though.
Fiction needs to be allowed to be expressive, that's part of what makes it entertaining and Apple of all companies should on the side of creatives, not the perpetually offended ones. If there are legitimate complaints about an app after it is published then they can review the decision to let it in the store. They can also have a button that says an app isn't offensive and doesn't deserve to be hidden. Let the customers be the judge.
Lets say an app goes in and it gets hidden by default and 10,000 people vote it as inoffensive and it is unhidden by default. If someone else comes along and votes it as offensive, it can tell them that only maybe 100 people said it was offensive and 10,000 said it wasn't so it stays unhidden. It removes the moral decision from Apple and puts it on the customers. These hidden apps would not be visible at all under parental controls and the controls would only need to be enabled on apps they weren't sure about.
It's such unnecessary bad publicity for them every time this happens and it will keep happening until they change how apps are reviewed.
Of all the things I love about Apple. their tight-assed censorship practices isn't one of them.