15 Sep

Outside of turtle-necked CEOs and futuristic mall outlet decor, one of Apple’s more recognizable traits is its defense of its own brand. So when Molleindustria debuted their Phone Story game application – which depicts an alleged production cycle of the iPhone which includes sweatshop conditions and electronic waste – early yesterday, Apple seemed quick to pull the plug. If the time stamp on the company’s corresponding Twitter messages (1, 2) are correct, the game was pulled approximately four hours after launch.

Apple later cited several application restrictions which Phone Story violated, which included rules against the depiction of violence against children and “excessively objectionable” content. The game’s donation policy, which saw 70% of profits pledged to various grassroots organizations, also violated Apple’s policy that all games that accept such donations be sold for free.

In a similarly swift turnaround, Molleindustria has migrated Phone Story over to the Android Marketplace. The game’s content is the same as on its iPhone version, according to the developer.

“A lot of tech-aware people heard about the story of the Foxconn suicides or about the issue of electronic waste.” Molleindustria’s Paolo Pedercini told Gamasutra in an interview earlier today, referencing the sharp increase in worker suicides at the Taiwanese  manufacturer’s Chinese plant last year, “But with Phone Story, we wanted to connect all these aspects and present them in the larger frame of technological consumerism.”

(via IndieGames, Gamasutra)