Apple continues to make headlines for its App Store approval process. In early March we reported Apple’s attempt to ‘tidy’ the App Store by removing WiFi signal finder apps, iPhone apps containing too much adult content and ‘cookie cutter’ applications. Each time Apple attempts to deny or remove a certain application it receives mixed reactions.
This time Apple has rejected iSealClub developed by Matt Smyth for iPhone and iPod touch. In iSealClub your object is to hunt seals with a wooden club. The gameplay is very simple, you control the club using iPhone’s accelerometer. The game does not feature any realistic or gory graphics and even the seals are more like cartoon seals.
Apple informed the developer that they rejected the app because it contains “objectionable content.”
The developer of iSealClub in an interview said:
They allow other apps, like Trophy Hunt for bear and deer and whatnot. I don’t see the difference between killing a seal and killing a deer
On the other hand, PETA applauded Apple for rejecting the game. Commenting on the official PETA Blog, Jennifer O’Connor praised Steve Jobs even though Apple rejected one of its app:
Sure, Apple banned our Be Nice to Bunnies app after catching a glimpse of sexy Stephanie Pratt in the buff, but PETA doesn’t hold it against Steve Jobs. In fact, we think that Jobs and the rest of the Apple crew are pretty great after learning that the App Store said “no way” to an app called iSealClub—a game in which users wield a metal-tipped club and earn points by bashing seals to death.
This is yet another example of Apple being committed to having complete control over App Store including the kind of apps available to its customers.
iSealClub iPhone Gameplay
Reuters’ full report:
