Apple caters to China by pulling thousands of “unlicensed” iPhone games

Enlarge / iPhones are seen at an Apple Store in Tianjin, China. (credit: Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Apple has told iPhone app developers that it "will start removing thousands of mobile games lacking government approval from its App Store in China next month," Bloomberg reported today, citing anonymous sources. "The decision ends the unofficial practice of allowing games to be published while awaiting authorization from the country's slow-moving regulators."

As Bloomberg notes, "China's regulators require all games that are either paid or offer in-app purchases to submit for review and obtain a license before publication, and major Android app stores have enforced such rules since 2016. But unapproved games have flourished on Apple's iPhone platform." The Apple policy change "clos[es] a loophole" that "allowed games such as Grand Theft Auto, whose gory depictions of violence are unlikely to ever pass muster with Chinese censors," to be available in China.

We contacted Apple about the report today and will update this story if we get a response.

Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments