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Apple rejected Buzz Aldrin's Space Program Manager because Buzz Aldrin is in it

You can't make this up

Apple rejected Buzz Aldrin's Space Program Manager because Buzz Aldrin is in it

It's well-known that Apple's approval system for its App Store is inconsistent. It can also be daft.

But the reason as to why Buzz Aldrin's Space Program Manager was rejected by Apple is outright absurd.

According to Pocket Tactics's Owen Faraday, who visited the Slitherine studios recently, Apple rejected Space Program Manager as it "contains well-known third parties."

To clarify: the game was rejected due to it featuring astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who helped in the making of the game. Yes, he is actively involved in its making.

Play nice

We know that Apple is touchy when it comes to real people, companies, and countries being depicted in games. The reason for this is revealed in its App Store guideline 14.1.

It reads: "Any App that is defamatory, offensive, mean-spirited, or likely to place the targeted individual or group in harm's way will be rejected."

That's quite sensible thinking even if it restricts some creativity, and Apple recently used it to reject a game that satirized North Korea's Kim Jong-Un (before accepting it a little later on).

But this ruling shouldn't apply to Space Program Manager.

Buzz Aldrin's Space Program Manager

As said, Buzz Aldrin is officially part of the game's development and has put his name to it. He's not a third party to the game. He's at its centre, so the reason that Apple gave doesn't add up at all.

Buzz kill

Slitherine's Iain McNeil told Pocket Tactics that the studio "thought [it was] pretty safe this time," as Space Program Manager one of the few Slitherine games that doesn't feature violence.

McNeil's trepidation around Apple's reaction to violent games is well-founded.

Only a couple of weeks ago the company decided that it suddenly didn't want any images of guns being used in a threatening manner on the App Store.

As we found out last week, this has been a big inconvenience for studios making shooters especially. 

And now we have this news of Apple rejecting Space Program Manager for this nonsensical reason. Sigh.

Hopefully, Buzz Aldrin's Space Program Manager will be out on iOS and Android soon. 

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.