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Apple Yanks "Sweatshop Themed" Game From App Store
First time accepted submitter danhuby writes "Apple have removed sweatshop-themed game Sweatshop HD by UK developers LittleLoud from their app store citing clause 16.1 — 'Apps that present excessively objectionable or crude content will be rejected.' According to the PocketGamer article, Littleloud's head of games, Simon Parkin, told Pocket Gamer that 'Apple removed Sweatshop from the App Store last month stating that it was uncomfortable selling a game based around the theme of running a sweatshop.'"
Then how did Game Dev Story get approved??
What, so only APPLE is allowed to run a sweatshop?
Its all about naming. If FarmVille was called Southern Plantation Simulator and you grew tobacco and cotton in the early 1800's it would have gotten canned too, for multiple reasons.
Yet continue to use foreign sweatshops :/
If it makes you feel uncomfortable, force people to stop talking about it. The definition of political correctness!
"challenged people to think about the origin of the clothes we buy" Challenging people to think is one of the main things an Apple user is not allowed to do. Makes sense if you think about it.
Apple didn't grant them permission to create a simulator on how apple works so it was easier to just toss the app out before suing them for infringing their history. I'm also sure there were rounded corners somewhere in the app.
Well, you developed for a platform where all the money you spent can be for nought at the whim of some spotty face Apple reviewer.
You wouldn't put your companies future at the whim of some unstated rules, interpreted by spotty faced youths, yet you develop for iOS?
More fool you.
Seriously slashdot. Can't you just do a simple text match to block this post from ever showing again?
Its too bad the Irony is lost with Apple Inc. lol, Sweatshop app, maybe mimics the company a little too much for their own taste.
if its so easy, it might produce competitors.
I should think the objectionable thing would be the existence of those sweatshops. It's apparently just talking about them that is offensive? If we just look the other way and pretend they don't exist, then everything is peachy?
I am surprised they didn't state the reason as the app simulates functionality already in the Apple eco system. They probably have a patent on using cheap chinese labor to do their bidding ;). The App would then compete with apple's core functionality ;).
"Increasingly, Apple is not for doâ(TM)ers. It is not for power users. It is not for creators. It is not for people who think different. It is for posers. It is for hipsters. It is for metrosexuals. It is for wannabes and pretenders."
This game will be called "Patent War"...
The object is to collect as many patents growing around the landscape stuff them in your pocket. The more patents you collect, the better are your chances against the Innovation Monster. Defeat the Innovation Monster and collect Gold Coins. Use the Gold Coins to buy Senators who can help build fences to keep the Innovation Monster away. Once you level up, defeat the Consumer Rights Beast and collect even more Gold Coins and even the Vorpal DRM which can stave off the Indie Media Goblin and the DIY Music Devil.
Kill hundreds of thousands of virtual people in videogames? No prob! Force them to work in a sweatshop? That makes me a little uncomfortable.
Welcome to the walled garden where everything is beautiful inside and you're protected from the ugly outside world (by the gardener's definition).
Apple should also ban all FPS and other games involving wars and killing people. Clearly killing people is highly objectionable.
Having squirrels processing nuts in a treehouse sweatshop would have been way less objectionable.
content censorship needs to go before the law comes in bans all app store lock in.
What could possibly go wrong?
What about the Tapper game that's been around since the dawn of time where you have to frantically serve drinks to increasingly fast and angry patrons. Or the waitress game. Or any stressful job situation. Heck I think it's cruel to throw birds at pigs' houses.
Seriously, a game called "5 minutes to kill yourself" (and the wedding day edition) is okay, but a game where you run a sweatshop isn't? I'm guessing the top tier goal of the sweatshop game had the workers building iGlasses for an unnamed American corporation.
I get what the Apps Store is. Its a clearing house for Apps that makes it, in theory, easier for content providers to get their apps out there and earning then and Apple money. I also get how Apple would want to control the stability, code quality, etc of what they publish there, _however_, no where does the concept of an app store imply nor mandate that they also become the Morality Police for a content outlet. That's insane. I like Apple and their products, but I didn't sign on for them to be my moral compass. If there is something on there I don't like then the solution is simple people.. Don't freaking buy it! Sheesh.
Not child porn and its makers itself. Only sweeping it under the rug, so people don't see it anymore. Giving those makers additional secrecy and protection, so they can continue. While we all are paying with it with the introduction of a centralized system of totalitarian censorship.
Now if the government would also *run* a large, organized child rape and porn ring, that would be a perfect analogy for what Apple is doing here.
You wouldn't put your companies future at the whim of some unstated rules, interpreted by spotty faced youths, yet you develop for iOS?
A lot of companies develop for video game consoles, whose policies are even stricter than Apple's, simply because video game consoles are the only popular devices for video gaming with multiple gamepads and a large monitor. I'm told set-top PCs are nowhere near popular enough to attract major developer attention.
I'll admit that this isn't quite as true of the iPhone and iPad as it is for consoles, but for three years, Apple's iPod touch had a monopoly on PDAs (3 to 5 inch Wi-Fi-only tablets). Until the fourth quarter of 2011, when Samsung finally brought out the Galaxy Player, one couldn't easily buy an Android device of that size without paying for a voice data plan. During that time, a lot of iPod touch owners bought iOS apps, and the fact that they can bring those apps with them to new iDevices that they buy leads them to choose other iDevices over Android devices. So the only way to reach users with a sizable collection of paid-for iOS apps is to develop for iOS.
A leaked version of the App Store Review Guidelines already contains a ban on realistic violence.
But the real problem with the App Store Review Guidelines is that they're confidential, intended only for current developers, not for prospective developers. Say someone has been developing applications for PCs and Android devices as a hobby, and he wants to try developing a few applications for the iPhone or iPad. Before he spends over $1,000 on a Mac, an iPad, and a developer license, how can he be sure that Apple won't reject his applications' concepts?
So Apple is enforcing their rules which they've openly and clearly published
When I tried to view the rules on Apple.com, it asked me to log in with an Apple ID. Where should a prospective developer view these rules before spending four figures on a Mac, an iPad, and a developer license?
Just turn the barbed wire to angle OUTWARD.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Just got confirmation that the iPhone 6 has airco built in. So sweat is no longer an option and will be banned from the Appstore.
No amount of money (And $1k is nothing when talking product development), guarantees returns. So in this case, Apple rejecting the concepts is just another risk to add onto the list.
If it's the straw that breaks the camel's back, then pick a different platform to develop the concept for. Except every other platform carries it's own risks and benefits.
-- I'm a Mac.
-- And I'm a PC.
The article claims that it was an iPad game on the iOS App Store, not a Mac game on the Mac App Store. The only connection with Macs is that a Mac was used to build and submit it.
Apple and all the other major hardware and software companies all have products assembled at Foxconn which is the most advanced sweatshop in and of itself and its been going on for years... but hell no mention it to a apple fanatic in the USA especially San Fransisco and they will look at you funny.
slashdot insta-modding [...] anything linking to goatsex
Not necessarily. Assuming that by "goatsex" you mean Goatse.cx and its modern-day mirrors, Google goatse on-topic site:slashdot.org pulls up a whole bunch of cases where such robo-moderation wouldn't be helpful. Most rules about moderation and such have exceptions to make them work more smoothly, and Apple appears to have missed some needed exceptions in its App Store Review Guidelines.
So in this case, Apple rejecting the concepts is just another risk to add onto the list.
How does adding this artificial risk benefit Apple in a way that just publishing the Guidelines does not?
Never heard of Sweatshop HD before this...
Now I MUST PLAY IT!!!!
Good work, Apple, the dev couldn't pay for this kind of publicity.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
You can create your apple id for free
I just logged in with my Apple ID, and it told me "Sorry, you cannot access this page. The Apple ID you signed in with does not have permission to view this page."
How hard would it be to port the game to the Mac and offer it for download?
Sweatshop HD is such a crude and offensive name. The game simply needs to be renamed: Foxconn Fun or iFactory, maybe Making Apples...
Let's be fair.
He was "just a fucking guy who marketed technology to the mundanes."
And the truth is that he was a genius at that. No, he wasn't "innovative", he sure as hell wasn't "a visionary," but he did succeed at selling what were "geek toys" to hipsters, who are always willing to pay a premium.
MP3s, tablets, smartphones: they were all around long before Apple made its "contributions" to the market[0] , and usually done better, but they never got sold to the "Any Key" crowd.
So let the Followers of Jobs have their worship. Even if they are just worshiping a marketroid, he was a good one.
[0]Newton was an exception, in that it was very, very much a geek toy and was a flop.
Our IEs were using the game to model our operations!!!
And yet assholes all over the world keep supporting FU_pple.
Yes! So long as you openly and clearly publish your rules and hold everyone to them, your rules are above criticism!
That's why I openly and clearly publish that anyone entering my house will be bitchslapped if they present excessively objectionable or crude content. No more pesky assault and battery claims when I arbitrarily decide what is excessively objectionable and crude.
there is a root beer version of that game.
Why bother requiring intervention - just get rank it down and let a mod rescue it if and only if it was somehow relevant.
I can think of three reasons.
First, moderators tend not to rescue posts after the first few hours of a discussion.
Second, users can set a threshold on whether replies show up in their Message Center. An on-topic reply to one's comment that's robo-modded due to forbidden keywords might never show up. I, for one, depend on Message Center for notifications of replies to my comments.
Third, Slashdot karma works on a percentage scale. Each "In" moderation adds 2 percent, and each negative moderation takes away 2 percent. (Funny appears to do nothing.) Only users with "Excellent" karma (over 50%) get to post with the bonus, which is essential to keep late-discussion comments visible. A post at 1 that's robo-modded down to -1 due to forbidden keywords takes away 4% karma.
Presumably they left in the app: Sweatshop Left Town Because Of Western Pressure HD, where the employees leave the empty building and return to dirt-floor, grinding poverty, with extra bonus levels where western doogooders get points slapping each other on the back and seeing how many shrimp cocktails they can chug at their award parties.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Awesome! You don't mind if I steal this exact idea, right?
So you were thinking about developing your original game for the Apple platform? Just look at their great distribution system that protects you from pirating. Their powerful tools make it easier to release your project with out the huge resources of a publisher or AAA Developer, and their editors make sure that the fruit of thousands of man hours are destroyed.
Oh wait
Not as I do.
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
Those rules are a little vague though:
"We will reject Apps for any content or behavior that we believe is over the line. What line, you ask? Well, as a Supreme Court Justice once said, "I'll know it when I see it". And we think that you will also know it when you cross it."
in other words, Apple can reject anything for whatever reason they feel like
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_Story
'Phone Story is a satirical mobile video game designed by Paolo Pedercini for Molleindustria with the stated aim of demonstrating what the developers refer to as "the dark side of your favorite smart phone." The game consists of four minigames which require the player to complete activities such as forcing children in the Third World to mine coltan and preventing suicides at a Foxconn factory.'
'Phone Story was released on the iOS platform on September 9, 2011, though it was banned by Apple after only four days.'
Apple, seen manufacturing facilities in Shenzhen? If only they were less comfortable with this concept in real life.
PC and android device(s) just suddenly appear on the develope's desk when he/she wants to develop something for those platforms?
Yes, because he already owned a PC running Windows before starting to develop software. You might counter that one might have already owned a Mac, but a randomly selected x86 desktop or laptop computer is far more likely to have shipped with Windows than to be a Mac, and Macs can run Android SDK anyway. Entry-level Android tablets can be had for under $100, and brand-name ones from ASUS and Amazon for $200.
What if someone [...] now tries to develop other apps for Windows? The use still need to spend a lot of money (to buy Visual Studio) before start.
Visual Studio Express, MinGW, the JDK, and Eclipse are all distributed without charge. And even if you happen to have bought a Mac as your first computer, a copy of Windows 8 OEM to install in Boot Camp is $99 (not per year).
How does he/she know whether the Microsoft would accept
Windows 8 supports desktop and "immersive" (formerly Metro) applications. Desktop applications can be sideloaded, leaving Microsoft's policies out of scope entirely. Immersive applications come exclusively from the Windows Store, just like Windows RT applications. But unlike Apple, Microsoft publishes its guidelines for Windows Store applications, and I was able to view those without even being signed into Hotmail. Likewise, Google makes its distribution agreement and content policy for Google Play Store available to the public to inspect.
or whether the app is going to be success?
That variable is orthogonal to the concept acceptance policies of any particular platform.
You should be able to see the rules for free by joining the Apple Developer program.
In the interest of fairness to iOS, I'm trying to build an accurate walkthrough to do so. So I logged in using my Apple ID, got "Sorry, you cannot access this page.", clicked Member Center, and then under "Professional Profile", I selected Games as the primary market, and got this:
It appears one is required to have already bought a Mac in order to truthfully complete this page of the Apple Developer Registration form, as Apple has confirmed discontinuation of Safari for Windows. Seeing "Legal agreement" as the next step and remembering "you warrant and represent" clauses in other sites' TOS, I'm trying to be careful not to lie on this form. Can I safely assume that "you develop with" was a typo for "you plan to develop with"?
Sincerity mode please; I'm trying to be fair to Apple, so please be fair to me.
Of course they can. As can the proprietors of any store.
As for complete power over the content of a computing device, Try developing a game for the Wii that Nintendo finds objectionable. Selling it from ANY store.
But non PC bullshit isn't. Swear to god I want the next fucking asteroid to hit us.
To close to home
I treated "develop on" as if it were "plan to target". This choice turned out to be correct, as the following section titles made clear. But even now that I have become a registered Apple developer, I still get "The Apple ID you signed in with does not have permission to view this page" when I try to view the Guidelines.