Apple working with devs to return some games with Confederate flag to store

In the wake of yesterday's mass banning of games from the iTunes App Store featuring the Confederate flag, Apple tells TechCrunch the company is now working with some developers to get their games reinstated.

The removal of apps and games featuring the flag imagery was not meant to be a blanket ban, according to TechCrunch, which spoke with an Apple representative.

"There may have been titles that shouldn't have been pulled because the use of the flag could be considered 'historical' or 'educational,'' according to the article.  "Apple's intention is not to lose games from the App Store, but rather remove those titles that could offend."

Apple's public statement on the matter seems to reflect that as well:

"We have removed apps from the App Store that use the Confederate flag in offensive or mean-spirited ways, which is in violation of our guidelines. We are not removing apps that display the Confederate flag for educational or historical uses."

It's unclear where Civil War games will land in that spectrum.

Earlier this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook took to Twitter to call for the removal of symbols that feed racism.

My thoughts are with the victim's families in SC.Let us honor their lives by eradicating racism & removing the symbols & words that feed it.

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) June 21, 2015

Yesterday, Apple pulled most Civil War wargames from its store. That included titles like Hunted Cow's Civil War and Ultimate General: Gettysburg.

Game-labs' Maxim Zasov, creator of Ultimate General: Gettysburg, told Polygon that he had no intention of removing the flag from the game, because it is a part of the history of the period.

"We accept Apple's decision and understand that this is a sensitive issue for the American Nation," the company stated. "We wanted our game to be the most accurate, historical, playable reference of the Battle of Gettysburg. All historical commanders, unit composition and weaponry, key geographical locations to the smallest streams or farms are recreated in our game's battlefield."

We've reached out to Game-labs to see if Apple is reinstating its game, which still isn't in the App Store as of this morning, and will update this story when they respond.

Meanwhile, the game is now being featured on the Steam store as a Featured Item, something Game-labs pointed out on its Facebook page.