iOS TD game pulled for pedobear-looking character

As if anyone needed MORE proof that internet memes are ruining the world.

An iOS developer has been forced to make some changes to his kiddies tower defense game Childhood’s End, after someone in the Apple review line became concerned that it’s fun, tower-defensing exterior may be harbouring a creepy, child hunting tool for paedophiles. Seriously.

Pixel Brain’s game was cleared at first, but after a bug fix they got an e-mail saying the game “needed additional time for review”. As it turns out, someone at Apple thought Childhood’s End may be the candy in the back of the App Store’s van. The reason? One of the cute teddy bears looked like 4chan favourite Pedobear. For those unfamiliar, Pedobear is an innocent-looking bear found all over the internet; portrayed as an undercover child molester and often linked to jokes about paedophilia.

Pixel Brain’s Steve Hunn explained, “The Apple rep at first asked me what the purpose of the app was supposed to be. I didn’t understand what she was getting at and said something along the lines of ‘it’s just a game – I want people to play it’.

“She then asked me if I knew about Pedobear. I quickly put two and two together but played dumb so I could hear her explain it to me. She basically said that the combination of the game’s (original) icon and one of the submitted screenshots plus the title ‘Childhood’s End’ made someone along the review chain think that the game might be a recruiting tool for paedophiles(!).”

The game was put back in the App store after Pixel Brain made the appropriate tweaks, but still, seriously? Check out the picture, do you think they look alike? Let us know in the comments.

Source: Eurogamer