Apple Inc has a bit of a reputation for being heavy handed when it comes to rejecting apps from the App Store for a variety of reasons, and now it looks like Nicalis Inc’s popular indie game The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is the latest title to get hit with the ban hammer.

What is particularly strange in this case is Apple’s reason for rejecting the game. According to an image shared by Nicalis founder Tyrone Rodriguez on Twitter, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth was rejected from the App Store because the game “contains content or features that depict violence towards, or abuse of, children.”

Rodriguez’s comment on Twitter regarding the rejection was “C’mon, wtf… Apple.”

In a subsequent tweet, Rodriguez pointed out that there are already other games on the App Store featuring violence against children, including The Walking Dead. He later said that he reached out to Apple regarding the rejection but was told to submit his appeal through a “generic contact form via Resolution Center.”

Is it really “violence towards children?”

While Apple’s rule against depicting child abuse may have the right intentions, the rejection does not really fit for The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth.

First, as Rodriguez pointed out, Apple has already allowed a number of games that depict violence against children to be sold on the App Store. Second, the actual “violence towards children” that occurs in The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is something that players are supposed to avoid, not seek out.

By Apple’s reasoning, a game like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time also depicts violence against children.

Image courtesy of Nicalis Inc