Endgame:Syria Updated on PC & Android. Released as Endgame:Eurasia on iOS

Yes indeed.  Endgame:Syria has been updated on PC and Android.  We’ve also ported the original version on o Facebook.  However was rejected a third time by Apple and we had to remove references to ‘Syria’ itself to get the game on iOS.  There has been a lot of coverage of this so far, including articles on Polygon, Pocket Gamer and VentureBeat:

In January, GamesBeat reported that Apple blocked a game called Endgame: Syria from its iOS App Store. That strategy title explores the nation’s civil war and aims to inform gamers about the many possible outcomes of the conflict. Apple refused the game based on the sensitive nature of the content.

Today, developer Tomas Rawlings, who produced the game as part of his Game The News series, revealed that the title is finally available on the App Store under a new name. Rawlings changed the game to Endgame: Eurasia and wiped all other references to Syria and its war.

We reached out to Rawlings to see how he feels about ripping out the overt political statement of his game.

“[I’m] very disappointed,” Rawlings told GamesBeat. “It’s a long, drawn-out process that costs time and money to go though, [Apple’s process] is a major hindrance to our art as game creators.”

Michael Peck over at Forbes were very scathing of Apple over the decision:

I wish I could say that Apple changed its mind. But it’s more accurate to say that the game’s publisher, UK-based Auroch Digital, found a way to humor the humorless iBureaucrats. “Endgame: Syria” has been repackaged as “Endgame: Eurasia”, which is pretty much the same game except that the name “Syria” has been removed along with references to specific groups such as the Free Syrian Army or Hezbollah.

Title changes from ‘Syria’ to ‘Eurasia’…

There is more on the reaction to the original release here, here and here.

PS. I was also pleased to see ads for aid to Syrian refugees appearing next to articles about the game. The game also has links in it leading people to be able to donate to organisations/refugees from the war, however I didn’t really think about the point that by generating articles about the issue, you automatically create spaces for ads related to it to be displayed and in contexts they might not have been placed before. The image below is from Polygon…