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?
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.
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?
Not if it's so popular, it makes people want to buy your phone even more. If millions of people loved "Sweatshop HD", Apple would conveniently forget their clause. Rule of Acquisition number 202. The justification for profit is profit.
If we colonize Mars, it won't be the World Wide Web anymore. UWW?
"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).
Censorship ain't cool, man! No matter what.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
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.
And FoxConn uses rule #189.
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
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.
This isn't Reddit.
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.
Clearly killing people is highly objectionable.
Not when you can make money from it.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
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?
You say that like it a bad thing. Doesn't matter. Censorship is bad... I am quite capable of filtering what I see myself. And I don't care if the mods disagree.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
While I agree with you in principal (the ability to run whatever I wish is one of the reasons I use Android and avoid iOS myself), in practice, what you describe is the same on both platforms.
If I'm selling a commercial app, even on Android, the built-in store is more or less the only avenue to making money. Google's store has rules just like Apple's does.
Sure I can sell through Amazon or some of the other third parties instead. But this obviously greatly diminishes my potential market (and they will likely have similar rules too). What percent of Android users ever install a third party store? What percent are even aware they can do so?
If you're talking about commercially selling software to sideload, the problem is even worse. Most users have no idea this is possible. So in effect, if you're investing a lot of money into a project and Google says "no", the results aren't much different from Apple saying "no".
Touch everywhere, even when inappropriate.
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.
They could even rank it down to a -2 which is only visible to the randomly designated mods so they can rescue posts that end up there without subjecting everyone else to that shit.
-- 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.
There is a perfectly workable system already in place that relies on, rather than centralised censorship, crowd-sourced moderation. Unfortunately, it's ruined by chumps who reply to to the trolls, thus bringing otherwise rapidly hidden posts to the attention of all and sundry.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
google is no help with rule #189... unless it has to do with sleeping in... which i somehow doubt. Please explain?
I believe in karma, which is why, when I do something bad to people, I assume they deserve it.
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.
That's why I suggested In the extremely unlikely event that the link was relevant to the thread, it could be rescued by designated moderators. Same goes for the usual racist dross that mods find themselves marking down on every new story. Why bother requiring intervention - just get rank it down and let a mod rescue it if and only if it was somehow relevant.
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.
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
"189. Let others keep their reputation...you keep their latinum."
Rule of Acquisition
Perception is the thin dividing line between reality and fiction.
Fair enough, but I do not like using my mod points to mod people down, but will if it is off-topic, etc. It seems like a waste of mod points to deal with this spammer, who posts the same EXACT spam on every article. I like the idea of having a lower than -1 rating. I'll scroll through -1 occasionally to see if the rating was justified, but this spammer would be modded down to oblivion every time.
Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. -Benjamin Franklin
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.
Fabulous turn around to back on topic, 10/10.
If you think someone isn't free to have a different definition of "freedom" you may be a tyrant.
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.