Endgame: Syria and Game Censorship

"How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?"

-  Faranheit 451

 A recent Kill Screen article brought to my attention a policy travesty that  raises serious concerns regarding accessibility to politically and socially relevant games. Following the completion of Endgame: Syria, a "news game" that seeks to simulate the stakes and strategies in the ongoing war in Syria, Apple rejected the title from the app store. According to App Store guidelines, the company forbids games that "solely target a specific race, culture, a real government or corporation, or any other real entity."

This is, of course, the same sort of move that stirred up controversy when Apple rejected Molleindustria's Phone Story, which criticized systems of oppression behind smart phone supply chains - including, of course, the iPhone. However, the rejection (which came after first accepting the game) cited "excessively objectionable and crude content", making a moral judgement on behalf of the company's consumers. This is the same infringement, by the way, that was cited in Apple's rejection of Drones+, a sparse and non-sensational app that aggregates US drone strikes around the world from a public database.

In all three cases, Apple's relatively small number of quality control staffers act as moral policemen, safeguarding consumers' sensitive constitution. As a vehement proponent of the principle of free speech (and here I mean the value of open conversations, not just the legal right), I find the assertion that a third-party can  so assuredly patrol the border of offensive and non-offensive a ludicrous idea. It has never been easier to self-censor for ourselves. With the amount of sites that cater to all sorts of consumers, from conservative parents to religious communities, we all have more than enough ways to protect our own moral boundaries.

Of course there are plenty of other reasons for Apple to protect their consumers from potentially offensive games. Their policy against any "real world entities" could be a sure-fire way to protect themselves from criticism. Alternatively, the company could be concerned that users might associate offensive content with Apple's brand, thereby harming the "App Store" brand itself. Yet the term has already become so ubiquitous (despite Apple's legal effort to maintain brand hegemony), that there is hardly an alien concept that the app store functions more as a massive library than a finely pruned garden.

In fact, I think we should start thinking of app stores as libraries. With smart phones in nearly everyone's an ever-increasing amount of hands these days, mobile platforms are one of the easiest ways to access a huge player base, both those less knowledgeable about accessing and/or playing games from PCs and those such political games may seek to reach.  The decision to not carry Endgame: Syria is a huge blow not just to the game creators, but to those seeking to use games as educational and persuasive objects. Yes, Apple has every right to decide what products are available in their collection, just as many schools across the US maintain the right to manage their own collections. That being said, when a library or school bans a book, they are almost universally condemned. Apple's policy preventing political, social, or any other critical game with firm foundations in the real world is devastating and shameful.

Again, I am not suggesting Apple should lose their right to decide what can and cannot appear in their app store. Indeed, I am less concerned about Apple and more concerned about how we approach the distribution and accessibility of games as a whole. Yes, I think the policy reprehensible, but the company will not be the last to avoid scrutiny by suppressing controversial works. As games become an increasingly important medium for politically and socially relevant messaging, we should seriously consider what the future holds for our freedom to play.

In the meantime, we should also remember why banning books seldom works. When a library bans, say, Catcher in the Rye, demand remains, or even grows. Thanks to stalwart librarians, parents, students, and others, the works are made accessible through other means. To that end, and with no judgement on the quality of the work at all, Endgame: Syria is free to download for Android via Google Play and is playable online at GameTheNews.net.