Following Apple’s decision yesterday to remove several games on the App Store for containing the Confederate flag, Apple has now told TechCrunch it is speaking with developers of said banned games to have those games reinstated should they be considered “historical” or “educational.”
Speaking to Apple, TechCrunch reports that it was not Apple’s intention to remove games on the App Store with Confederate flag imagery, such as Ultimate General: Gettysburg, in a blanket fashion.
“There may have been titles that shouldn't have been pulled because the use of the flag could be considered 'historical' or 'educational,'' TechCrunch says. "Apple's intention is not to lose games from the App Store, but rather remove those titles that could offend.”
Yesterday, following news of games with Confederate imagery being banned from the App Store, Apple released the following statement, which echoes what it later told TechCrunch:
“We have removed apps from the App Store that use the Confederate flag in offensive or mean-spirited ways, which is in violation of our guidelines. We are not removing apps that display the Confederate flag for educational or historical uses.”
One of the games to have been banned from the App Store (reinstatement is pending) was Ultimate General: Gettysburg. Confirming the news, developer Game-Labs defended their decision to not remove the Confederate flag, citing the game’s use as an educational tool in schools, as well as a historical art form.
“Spielberg’s Schindler's List did not try to amend his movie to look more comfortable. The historical Gettysburg movie (1993) is still on iTunes. We believe that all historical art forms: books, movies, or games such as ours, help to learn and understand history, depicting events as they were. True stories are more important to us than money.
“Therefore we are not going to amend the game's content and Ultimate General: Gettysburg will no longer be available on AppStore [sic]. We really hope that Apple’s decision will achieve the desired results.”
Thursday evening, Game-Labs posted on the official Ultimate General: Gettysburg Facebook page that the game was, at the time, being featured on Steam’s front page (seen below).
