Palestinian dev told to remove app from App Store games category

A Palestinian game developer has been told by Apple that his game must be removed from the game category on the iOS App Store as it has been deemed to be inappropriate”.

Gamasutra reports that Liyla and The Shadows of War creator Rasheed Abueideh revealed the news on Twitter, saying that Apple felt his title could not be classified as a game due to its political meanings.

Please revise the app category for your append remove it from Games, since we found that your app is not appropriate in the Games category,” Apple said. It would be more appropriate to categorize your app in News or Reference for example. In addition, please revise the marketing text for your app to remove references to your app being a game.”

The ruling has caused ripples among developers, who rightly argue that games have just as much right to be political as other content such as films or books.

Adding to the annoyance, Eurogamer reports that a game from the other side of the political divide, Israeli Heroes, is available on the App Store.

Liyla and The Shadows of War remains available on the Google Play store, where it carries a PEGI 18 rating. It has a 4.9/5 user rating.

Unfortunately Apple rejected the game as a game,they say its not game,it has a political statement.#indiedev #games pic.twitter.com/1zRjNMv77M

— Liyla (@Liylawar) May 18, 2016

Are you fucking kidding me, Apple?
Play a girl in Gaza: rejected
Play an Israeli missle: A-OK!
HT @molleindustria pic.twitter.com/3hMYMANxxE

— Naomi Clark (暗悪直美) ❌ (@metasynthie) May 19, 2016