Just days after changing its policy to allow video game emulators on the iPhone, Apple has removed the Game Boy Advance emulator app iGBA from the App Store.
But this is not due to a change in Apple’s thinking about the morality of emulators themselves. Instead, it turns out that iGBA is a rip-off of another emulator, the open source GBA4iOS.
An Apple spokesperson confirmed the decision and the company’s reasons for removing the emulator. mcroomersThe company reiterated its position that emulators that run downloaded versions of games or ROMs are still allowed on the App Store, despite concerns about copyright infringement.
Apple has indicated that its stance extends only to emulators for retro gaming consoles, but has not provided a list of what this definition means. Allowing iGBA suggests, at least initially, that Apple views the Game Boy Advance era as retro. But what about DS? Or 3DS?
Why did Apple make this change? This move allows you to use certain types of apps on your iPhone without jailbreaking the operating system or manually sideloading programs. It is believed that this was in response to the growing pressure from Europe.
Following a recent ruling that Apple must allow third-party app stores in the EU, this could be a way for the company to prevent some users from fleeing to App Store competitors. .
Eurogamer asked Nintendo’s position on all of this, given its typical stance on console emulation and piracy in all its forms, but has yet to receive a response.
Back in February, Nintendo sued the makers of the Switch emulator Yuzu for facilitating copyright infringement on a “huge scale.” Work on the emulator was halted after just a few days, and the developers agreed to pay Nintendo $2.4 million (£1.9 million).
