Apple is preparing to remove thousands more video games from its App Store in China due to pressure from the Chinese government, reports the Wall Street Journal. The company had previously warned Chinese video game developers that it was premium gaming apps ran the risk of being removed from the App Store, but the Chinese government is now further cracking down on games that don’t have the necessary license or any apps it deems illegal.
According to a note obtained by the WSJ, developers have until Dec. 31 to provide Apple with proof of their government-issued license, or else their games and other apps will be removed from the App Store. But Rich Bishop, chief executive of ChinaInApp, told the WSJ that very few developers will be able to get the license they need from the government to keep their games in the App Store.
This regulatory policy, first introduced in 2016, was presumably born out of concern addiction to games and offensive content, but so far many iOS developers have been able to avoid mandatory licensing law due to a loophole in Apple’s App Store policies, a loophole that Apple is now closing, judging by this next purge. It is not clear what this loophole meant.
But meNot only are they games that Apple has been eliminating, and will likely continue to eliminate. There was a Hong Kong map app Removed from the App Store during Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests last fall after Chinese state media reported it was endangering police officers. Google also removed the same app almost at the same time. Plague Inc., a pandemic-themed global simulation game was also removed. PUBG was banned in 2019. Even Tripadvisor may not be safe from Chinese censors. The travel app is one of more than 100 apps China has told Apple to remove without citing any reason.
In 2019, The State Administration of Press and Publications (SAPP) of China unveiled its application approval guidelines, which prohibited anything that violates or threatens China’s constitution, national security or political climate; games that promote racism or religious cults; and obscene content that includes drug use, extreme violence, or gambling, reported Business Insider.
G / O Media may receive a commission
After shareholder pressure its willingness to comply with Chinese censors, Apple published a document in September on its commitment to human rights. However, like the Financial Times noted at the time of publication of the document, there is no specific reference to China, or what should happen when “China, the world’s largest smartphone market, asks it to ban apps that help users to avoid censorship and surveillance “.
But the document says:
At the hands of the privacy of our users is our commitment to freedom of information and expression. Our products help our customers to communicate, learn, express their creativity and exercise their ingenuity. We believe in the critical importance of an open society in which information flows freely and we are convinced that the best way to continue to promote openness is to remain committed, even when we may disagree with the laws of a country.
In 2020 alone, Apple has removed 94,000 apps from its China App Store, compared to 25,000 games removed last year, according to Sensor Tower. In July, 2,500 mobile games were removed before a July 31st deadline to obtain a license. It is unclear if these games were removed by developers or Apple, but Sensor Tower notes that 80% of these apps had less than 10,000 downloads in China since January. 1 of 2012.