Untitled Goose Game was, and still is, an internet phenomenon. First released in 2019, players across Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and PC began to fall in love with the goose and its antics. However, Mac players were left waiting. Now, a clearer picture as to why has been painted.
On Mastodon, co-founder of Panic Cabel Sasser reveals that Untitled Goose Game was rejected from Apple’s Mac App Store twice. Apple has shown to instill strict App Store policies in the past. However, Sasser reveals that the reasoning behind the rejection at first was simply because the reviewer couldn’t figure out how to skip the credits.
“We explained that you could skip the credits by holding space,” Sasser explains. Which is true. Untitled Goose Game, like nearly every game on the market, includes a dedicated credit sequence that can be skipped. However, even with the knowledge that holding the space bar could initiate the skip, Apple’s reviewer wasn’t quite satisfied. Sasser adds, “It was then rejected for something else and at that point, we just gave up and never bothered to resubmit.”
Untitled Goose Game has been a critical darling, winning the Game of the Year award at D.I.C.E as well as a BAFTA. Aside from a funny oversight, it’s hard to imagine what glaring issue the game had that would not allow it on the Mac App Store.
Apple’s App Store has been under scrutiny from developers and regulators over the years. Although Apple’s policies help remove nefarious apps or blatant rip-offs, Apple also requires developers to continually update their games. Otherwise, they may face being pulled from the App Store. This caused a ton of commotion last year when already-finished games existing on the app store faced removal.
The App Store is also often looked at by antitrust regulators. Some believe that the App Store stifles competition and innovation.
