The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth Rejected By Apple

Today there is a sad lesson to be learned in counting one’s eggs before they hatch.  If you are a Binding of Isaac fan who got excited by my previous report that the game would likely be coming to iOS then I am sorry, but there is bad news for you.

Last night Nicalis founder, Tyrone Rodriguez, who had previously been sharing various pictures and videos of The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth running on iPhones tweeted the following:

C’mon, wtf… Apple pic.twitter.com/aEygkjqH2b

— Tyrone Rodriguez (@tyronerodriguez) February 7, 2016

This is Apple’s official rejection notice of The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth.  It states that the game was rejected because “Your app contains content or features that depict violence towards, or abuse of, children, which is not allowed on the App (store).”

This is sad, considering that The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth managed to get approval from Nintendo and is now running on both their home and handheld consoles.  Nintendo is well known for policing the type of content it allows to be sold on its systems and, in fact, originally did not grant approval to The Binding of Isaac, although this rejection was based on the games religious overtones rather than child abuse and violence claims.

While the game is not directly about child abuse, it is certainly implied, as the entire concept of the game is based on the story of the sacrifice of Isaac, common to most Abrahamic religions.  In the game, Isaac is running from his mother who, like Abraham in the original story, has been commanded by God to sacrifice Isaac unto him.

While the game is certainly full of many dark and intense themes, if it is ok for Nintendo consoles, frankly, it is probably all right for iOS.  Hopefully, we will see the rejection overturned in due time.  As of now you can still play the game on Microsoft Windows, Linux, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, New Nintendo 3DS, Xbox One, and, oddly enough, OS X (this is the most current operating system available for Apple computers).

Do you think that Apple was right in rejecting this smut? Do you think that they are only holding up the inevitable?  Do you not know what iOS is?  Let us know in the comments below.