Reporting on Apple’s rejecting The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth’s being included in the App Store had even barely begun before the braying laughter of ridicule had begun. It was yet another example of how Apple’s jackbooted policies had undermined artistic expression for the enforcement of its arcane app curation process.
Tyrone Rodriguez, a developer for Nicalis, the team developing the iOS version, posted the notice from Apple on Twitter, with the caption “C’mon, wtf…Apple” on February 6. Since then, the internet has done what the internet does in these situations, skewering the company for what appears to be a ridiculous bit of censorship.
Part of me thinks this was a big non-surprise. Various members of the development team of both The Binding of Isaac and Super Meat Boy have always held smartphone development in a kind of contempt. The ‘announcement’ of the Super Meat Boy iPhone game (which I don’t think ever surfaced) and Team Meat developer Tommy Refenes’s anti-iPhone App Store rant in a GDC2010 speech definitely express a certain, specific opinion about the platform.
However, then I started to read up on what, exactly, had caused the game to be denied a coveted spot among the million or so Flappy Bird clones still floating around in the App Store. Ostensibly, BoI:Rebirth was turned away because it depicted violence against children, an understandable qualm on the part of Apple…if it weren’t such a head-scratcher in this situation. Before I render my judgment on the topic, allow me to give a little background on the game.
In The Binding of Isaac, players take on the role of Isaac, a baby whose mother has locked him in the basement — which sounds way harsher than the actual gameplay implies — and so the miniature protagonist must battle foes of a disgusting and often unsightly variety to escape the “dungeon” of the basement.
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is neither wholly objectionable — a little (or a lot) gross, maybe — even by the standards by which Apple regulates itself in these kinds of situations. Nor is it some fly-by-night operation, the iOS equivalent of uber-reprehensible shooter Hatred. If you didn’t catch it from the title, The Binding of Isaac is mostly an interesting take on violence and the nature of familial relationships, not a celebration of murder, chaos, and abuse.
Not only that, the game is on multiple platforms already (PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, 360, XBO, Wii U…).
Now, it is probably clear to everyone that objectionable material should be regulated by Apple, who has a responsibility to its users. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is certainly not the first iPhone app to be tossed out on its ear in the last several years. Upskirt apps, iBoobs, and the Slash! app have gotten the axe. Even Eminem has felt the squeeze of the censors at Apple.
I could underscore my point here by pointing out the myriad games that allude to or outright depict violence toward children in the App Store. Any number of movies currently available on iTunes currently fit that description.
C'mon, wtf… Apple pic.twitter.com/aEygkjqH2b
— Tyrone Rodriguez (@tyronerodriguez) February 7, 2016
We could discuss the terrible nonsense Apple allows onto the App Store. (iFrenchKiss, anyone?) Or we could delve into the myriad, garbage-y ripoffs of McMillen’s other game, Super Meat Boy, which dupe the naive into purchasing them through blatant marketplace confusion. (Pissed off block! Super meat boy edition! is the most flagrant offender in this category.
We could even make sure to mention the number of games that are perhaps even more obviously and unselfconsciously violent for sale right now, up to and including the Grand Theft Auto games. Of course, we’d also have to discuss how The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is no RockStar property, and — if it were — just how quickly we’d probably see it go into the iOS Store for purchase. Money talks, people, and despite being one of the most compelling roguelikes of the last few years.
The most bizarre category of Isaac-adjacent content is the plethora of Binding of Isaac guides and wikis and whatnot that pervade the iOS Store. Plenty of them are free, but not all of them, and it seems a little strange that Apple would deny a game for being too openly violent for its platform but then allow a guide for said game and take a percentage of the profits.
None of what I’ve mentioned is illegal, or no doubt Apple would have zipped it up. Most of it probably isn’t even that different from what happens on most other platforms. (I haven’t even looked at the horror show that is the Android store.)
If Apple genuinely believes in the integrity of the app store, they would either have a more sensible, open, and fair submission and curation process, or they would put that responsibility in the capable hands of the public. Right now, they’re not doing the public justice in either sense.
They are both allowing stupid, half-baked, nonfunctioning cash grabs onto the store, and they are restricting access to interesting content for the sake of some obscure, internal reason. “Violence towards children” is a pretty vague descriptor, and yet, it does not prevent movies containing the self-same problem to be included in the iTunes store. You can go and rent Battle Royale right now and be privy to all sorts of graphic teen-on-teen violence.
That’s not to say that Battle Royale, San Andreas, or even iFrenchKiss should be taken down. It’s that maybe Apple should focus its time and energy regulating the kinds of content that has actually earned the public’s ire for the company. Banning broken apps, borderline infringing material, and the thousands of generic copycats would go a long way toward restoring credibility of and faith in the App Store. And, for God’s sake, please allow The Binding of Isaac onto your platform.