Apple recently changed its rules about retro game emulators on the App Store, and last week the very first ones were made available — including the iGBA Gameboy emulator. Unfortunately iGBA has since been taken down, for reasons relating to spam and copyright infringement.
While some may cry that this is Apple clamping down on emulation, despite promising to do the opposite, there seems to be a good reason why Apple pulled iGBA. Primarily because it’s been accused of ripping off an existing Gameboy emulator for iOS, and then stuffing the app with ads and tracking.
There had been concerns about how Apple would treat emulators on the App Store. Developers noticed that Apple’s T&Cs said developers were responsible for ensuring emulators complied with Apple guidelines and didn’t break the law — lest it be rejected. The vagueness of this, combined with the fact that emulation is something of a legal gray area, didn’t inspire confidence that Apple wouldn’t continue to keep iOS an emulation free zone.
It’s unclear whether iGBA was removed for infringing upon GBA4iOS, or if there was some other reason for it. Given Nintendo’s history of litigation against anyone attempting to profit from emulation, or any other projects that infringe on its copyright and IP, there’s always a possibility Nintendo requested iGBA be removed. It’s also possible that Apple saw that a mistake had been made and proactively removed the app to avoid future problems.
While opening up the App Store to emulation can be seen as a good thing, it’s going to lead to problems. Whether it’s cloned apps with dodgy ads and tracking stuffed in, potential takedowns from rights holders, or something else entirely. Hopefully we’re just facing an initial rush, as developers try to capitalize on the fact emulation is allowed now, and things settle down in the near future.
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