Apple has pulled all games from the App Store that have the confederate flag in them because they include "images of the Confederate flag used in offensive and mean-spirited ways." While there is certainly good reason for places to stop selling that flag and there is certainly a great argument to be made for taking down the flag from government buildings, it seems a bit of a stretch to remove all historically based games from the App Store.
Andrew from HexWar Games issued a statement to TouchArcade about this. Hi and HexWar Games have released many historical games on the App Store.
A sample image from one of HexWar's titles
And well, he's not wrong. Maxim Zazov from Game Labs, developers of Ultimate General: Gettysburg also issued a statement.
Again, there is certainly good reason for that flag to not be celebrated in this day and age, but to remove games and media that are based on our nation's actual history seems just as ignorant for entirely different reasons.
Andrew from HexWar Games issued a statement to TouchArcade about this. Hi and HexWar Games have released many historical games on the App Store.
A sample image from one of HexWar's titles
"We're in no way sympathetic to the use of the flag in an offensive way, we used it purely because historically that was the flag that was used at the time."
And well, he's not wrong. Maxim Zazov from Game Labs, developers of Ultimate General: Gettysburg also issued a statement.
"We accept Apple's decision and understand that this is a sensitive issue for the American Nation. We wanted our game to be the most accurate, historical, playable reference of the Battle of Gettysburg. All historical commanders, unit composition and weaponry, key geographical locations to the smallest streams or farms are recreated in our game's battlefield.
"We receive a lot of letters of gratitude from American teachers who use our game in history curriculum to let kids experience one of the most important battles in American history from the Commander's perspective.
"Spielberg’s "Schindler's List" did not try to amend his movie to look more comfortable. The historical "Gettysburg" movie (1993) is still on iTunes. We believe that all historical art forms: books, movies, or games such as ours, help to learn and understand history, depicting events as they were. True stories are more important to us than money.
"Therefore we are not going to amend the game's content and Ultimate General: Gettysburg will no longer be available on AppStore. We really hope that Apple’s decision will achieve the desired results. We can’t change history, but we can change the future."
"We receive a lot of letters of gratitude from American teachers who use our game in history curriculum to let kids experience one of the most important battles in American history from the Commander's perspective.
"Spielberg’s "Schindler's List" did not try to amend his movie to look more comfortable. The historical "Gettysburg" movie (1993) is still on iTunes. We believe that all historical art forms: books, movies, or games such as ours, help to learn and understand history, depicting events as they were. True stories are more important to us than money.
"Therefore we are not going to amend the game's content and Ultimate General: Gettysburg will no longer be available on AppStore. We really hope that Apple’s decision will achieve the desired results. We can’t change history, but we can change the future."
Again, there is certainly good reason for that flag to not be celebrated in this day and age, but to remove games and media that are based on our nation's actual history seems just as ignorant for entirely different reasons.