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Apple is rejecting games/updates if they have screenshots of guns and violence

M

More_Badass

Member
Remember back in December when Papers Please got rejected because of nudity? Well Apple's at it again

http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/iPad/Tempo/news.asp?c=63862
Multiple developers have told Pocket Gamer that Apple is starting to reject games and updates from the App Store, if they use screenshots that show people holding guns, or being maimed or killed

For the recently released Tempo - which has been chosen as Editor's Choice by Apple - developer Splash Damage has actually pixelated the guns to hide them in the screenshots.
Click to expand...

y3XOnbn.jpg


But other developers have been forced to change their screenshots. The developers behind a pair of high profile shooter games were made to remove guns in their screenshots. They've asked PG to remain anonymous at this time.

OrangePixel had to fight Apple when it rejected an update for GunSlugs II, because a screenshot featured tiny pixelated people getting killed.
Click to expand...

SlhPpXZ.jpg


According to that developer, Apple doesn't want screens that "show violence against a human being"
Click to expand...
 
S

samn

Member
Seeing as it's only screenshots shown in the App Store, not a big deal. They're doing this because there's no age gate to view a description of an app.
 
S

SpokkX

Member
Well... I am actually ok with this

You dont really need to show violence in the actual store if what you buy is a miltary shooter

It is kind of implied
 
D

Durante

Member
I love that Apple pulls stupid stunts like this from time to time, they would be too powerful and successful a force of evil otherwise.
 
D

Diablohead

Member
Apple honestly prefer screenshots with blurred out guns instead of showing the gun itself? seems like a weird choice especially this far in.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
samn said:
Seeing as it's only screenshots shown in the App Store, not a big deal. They're doing this because there's no age gate to view a description of an app.
Click to expand...
Also in the videos of the games on the App Store. The Tempo trailer has the guns blurred out as well

SpokkX said:
Well... I am actually ok with this

You dont really need to show violence in the actual store if what you buy is a miltary shooter

It is kind of implied
Click to expand...
What about the red pixels that imply blood in that Gunslugs 2 screenshot? Or in the future, a game that's a dual stick shooter?
 
J

Jeremy

Member
I've never paid attention to it but is there a rating system for parents to prevent access? I'm a grown man.
 
S

samn

Member
Stone Ocean said:
Then maybe it's time to actually get to that.
Click to expand...

That would slow down the browsing experience and probably decrease sales for those apps. I bet you'd hear way more complaints from app developers about lost sales.

edit - think how much of a pain it is to fill in the DOB on Steam when you just want to look at a store page for example.
 
Nikodemos

Nikodemos

Member
Apple execs are aware people are handing down older stuff to kids and are trying to make their image more kid-friendly.
 
T

TheLetdown

Member
Justified said:
That only applies to the Federal Government trying to limit the citizens of the U.S , not private businesses
Click to expand...

Aiko Heiwa said:
Doesn't apply to privately-ran things.
Click to expand...

Uh, are you guys reading the same Constitution that I am? It clearly states:

Congress or Apple shall make no law or App Store requirements ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press but mainly we mean the App Store, you guys ...
Click to expand...
 
D

Deku Tree

Member
I have a kid (about to have a second) who uses my iPad and my iPhone constantly (can't take it away from him) and honestly this sounds good to me.

Kids use the iPhones and iPads of adults all the time.

If developers want to put games on the app store then take the violent images out of the description images. Doesn't sound complicated.
 
W

Why would you do that?

Member
SpokkX said:
Well... I am actually ok with this

You dont really need to show violence in the actual store if what you buy is a miltary shooter

It is kind of implied
Click to expand...

While that might be true, how much violence is too much? It can range from mild cartoon violence all the way to intense violence, and while I agree it's okay to ban violence in screenshots, I think it should only apply to heavy violence, not like the kind on the Gunslugs picture, which is (non-mild) cartoon violence at best.

And let's not forget that with the inability to show guns at all, how would you even show that a game is a first person shooter in screenshots?
 
S

SliceSabre

Banned
Someone must think of the children whose parents can't be bothered to parent their kids from violent screenshots!

The humanity!
 
P

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
I think dedicated gaming devices can catch a breather this way.

Between things like this (not the first issue with some kinks of the review process) and 14 day refund policy for apps and thus games too (14 days return policy, no questions asked), you are helping non MMO/MOBA/etc... games move and hopefully thrive on other platforms.

In all seriousness, if I was making a single player focused game on iOS at this moment, I would have to think heavily about micro-transactions and bigger DLC packs because selling the game and trying to make a profit that way might face a barrage of refunds on the last day of the refund policy. Two weeks are more than enough to beat a game.
 
C

CTLance

Member
Wow. That's stupid. Still, after some posts in this thread it occurred to me that the AppStore isn't age-gated, so... well, honestly, I fail to see why kids seeing people with guns in screenshots is a bad thing, but... a case can be made. Probably.

Nonetheless, it's a headscratcher. Why now, why this way, why those pictures.
 
jts

jts

...hate me...
SliceSabre said:
Someone must think of the children whose parents can't be bothered to parent their kids from violent screenshots!

The humanity!
Click to expand...
Are you saying you pre-approve every single image/content your kids are authorised to see until they come of age?

Are you a parent?
 
The Faceless Master

The Faceless Master

Member
kind of a strange thing to do. someone now will ironically make a game where the gun violence is censored in-game causing the screenshots to be accurate.
 
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