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Apple admits mistake, pulls Kawaii Killer from the App Store a week after its release

Gore snore

Apple admits mistake, pulls Kawaii Killer from the App Store a week after its release
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| Kawaii Killer

We thought this might happen.

Tabemasu Games informs us that Apple has pulled its game Kawaii Killer from the App Store a week after its release.

Aurelien Defossez of Tabemasu says the developer was told by Apple by mail and over the phone that "The app concept is not appropriate for the App Store in its current state."

"Killing adorable animals does not meet the App Store guidelines," Apple added, according to Defossez.

What's strange is that Kawaii Killer was reviewed and approved for the App Store two months ago. That's why it was released for iOS a week ago.

Regarding this, Defossez told us that Apple said "it should have never been approved in the first place."

Kawaii Killer

Apparently, during its week of release, Kawaii Killer was also featured by Apple and was on the front page of the App Store.

"We sold more than 1,000 units, which was really satisfying for the first game from a totally unknown studio such as ours," Defossez said.

We mentioned last week that Apple had rejected the latest version of Kawaii Killer for its "realistic images of people or animals being killed".

In the game you tap and swipe on cute cartoon animals to bash, slice, and rip them apart in gory displays. Its violence is no more realistic than Tom and Jerry or South Park's.

Gutted

Clearly upset by his game being pulled, Defossez took to his blog to call out Apple on its inconsistent review and approval policies.

"More atrocious apps than Kawaii Killer have been on the App Store, with more blood or realistic violence," Defossez writes.

"Blend the Boss by Joe Cartoon is a good example. In this game, you have to put your boss in a blender, pure gratuitous violence. BloodyXmas or Draw Slasher do have a lot of blood too, but they're killing bad guys and zombies."

"And don't panic, GTA San Andreas, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies are still available on the App Store!"

While Kawaii Killer is no longer available on iOS, Android players can still purchase it for £1.76 / $2.99 on Google Play [buy] and the Humble Store.

There's also a free demo of the game that can be downloaded, also on Google Play [download].

Chris Priestman
Chris Priestman
Anything eccentric, macabre, or just plain weird, is what Chris is all about. He turns the spotlight on the games that fly under the radar.