Valve pulled a free solitaire game from its Russian storefront after the government complained about pride-themed card decks, while Apple and Google straight up ignored the same takedown request. The studio behind Flick Solitaire says their game runs in over 40 countries that criminalize LGBTQ content without any censorship, and Russia marks the first time a platform actually caved to pressure.
Apple sent the developer a message confirming the notice changed nothing about their standing on the App Store, and Google never bothered responding at all. Valve apparently yanked 260-plus games at Russian government requests before this situation, which suggests the company treats compliance differently than competitors when dealing with censorship demands from authoritarian regimes.
Apple sent the developer a message confirming the notice changed nothing about their standing on the App Store, and Google never bothered responding at all. Valve apparently yanked 260-plus games at Russian government requests before this situation, which suggests the company treats compliance differently than competitors when dealing with censorship demands from authoritarian regimes.
