YouTube superstar PewDiePie has slammed the state of the mobile gaming industry and blasted tech giant Apple over its recent decision to ban his game Poopdie from the App Store.
While Poopdie was eventually approved, the temporary ban on the game meant fans were unable to download it on launch day and had to wait more than a week before they could play it on iOS devices.
In a recent video, PewDiePie criticized “bad mobile game commercials” and used the mobile game Lily’s Garden as an example of such a commercial.
He pointed out how the ads for Lily’s Garden frame it as a game focused on character interactions when the actual gameplay is primarily focused on solving puzzles by matching tiles.
PewDiePie also called out Lily’s Garden for including sexual elements in its ads and questioned Apple’s seemingly inconsistent standards when it comes to deciding which games are allowed on the App Store.
“What’s the rating of this game? I need to understand,” PewDiePie said. “Because mother f**king Apple banned Poopdie but they allow this.”
When PewDiePie discovered that Lily’s Garden is considered a family game and has an age-rating of 4+, he was shocked.
“That’s so weird. That’s like having f**king sexy Angry Birds. What’s next? Give Spongebob a bunch of tits?” PewDiePie said.
As PewDiePie looked through other ads for the game which sexualize the Lily character and her friends, he added: “I think it’s despicable. It makes me angry.”
PewDiePie also pointed to the irony of Lily’s Garden being listed as a family game for those aged 4+ in the App Store yet some of its commercials being age-restricted on YouTube due to their content.
“It’s a family game everyone,” PewDiePie remarked sarcastically. “Family game for four year plus. Poopdie however, mmm, we can’t have that game.”
After seeing the contrast between how Lily’s Garden is marketed in ads and how it’s framed in the App Store, PewDiePie questioned whether this could lead to new rules for mobile games in the future.
“I wonder if Apple or Google are gonna change their terms of service in a way, on looking at how they’re marketing the game,” PewDiePie said. “Obviously they’re just looking at what the game itself is and they’re like, “OK it’s fine.””
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