Apple pulls games that feature Confederate flag from the App Store

Amid reignited controversy surrounding the use of the Confederate flag in America, Apple has reportedly pulled all games that feature the flag from the App Store. 

Touch Arcade reported that history-based games including Game Labs' Ultimate General: Gettysburg (pictured) are among the titles that are no longer on the App Store. 

There's been renewed scrutiny about the use of the Confederate flag, a symbol hoisted by Southern slave-holding states during America's Civil War, following the vicious murders last week of nine black churchgoers in South Carolina by a white man. Major retailers such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and others have ceased sales of the flag in recent days. 

A developer with HexWar Games, the studio behind Civil War: 1863, said he received a note from Apple stating that game was removed "because it includes images of the Confederate flag used in offensive and mean-spirited ways." 

HexWar plans on resubmitting the game using an earlier version of the Confederate flag, according to the report. "We're in no way sympathetic to the use of the flag in an offensive way, we used it purely because historically that was the flag that was used at the time," the developer said. 

Game Labs issued a statement saying that it would not amend its game, and just accept that it will no longer be available on the App Store. 

"We really hope that Apple's decision will achieve the desired results. We can't change history, but we can change the future," the studio said in a statement. 

Other apps, such as tourist-targeted apps that allow people to check in at historical Civil War sites, do feature the Confederate flag in varying degrees and are still available on the App Store.