iPhone Mobile Apps: Apple Removes Marijuana Dealing Game From App Store But Keeps Other Weed Themed Games
A new app game for smartphones where the user plays the role of a marijuana dealer was growing in popularity until Apple reportedly removed the game from the iTunes App Store this week, according to the game's creators.
Weed Firm takes the player through the life of Ted Growing, a pot dealer who grows and sells marijuana plants while staying away from the police and thugs. The game also allows players the opportunity to receive lap dances from strippers in the game, according to CNN Money.
Manitoba Games, Weed Firm's developing company, said Apple took the game down, which had reached No. 1 in the App Store's download charts, without any notice.
"We guess the problem was that the game was just too good and got to number one in all categories," Manitoba Games said in a statement.
Manitoba Games pointed out that other marijuana-themed games get to stay in the App Store. An example is Weed Maps, which finds and maps out the nearest medical marijuana dispensaries for users. Weed Tycoon, another game similar to Weed Firms but without the stress of running from the law or other gangsters, allows the player to run a virtual marijuana café like a business owner. The player determines the prices for different strains and also finds and buys grow farms to harvest the marijuana crops.
"There are certainly a great number of weed-based apps still available as well as games promoting other so-called 'illegal activities,' such as shooting people, crashing cars and throwing birds at buildings," the company said.
The opening credits to Weed Firm explicitly state that the game is fiction and is not representative of how to sell or grow pot, according to CNN.
Google also took Weed Firm down from its Play store, but Manitoba Games said it was because of an issue with the game's publisher rather than with Google. The company also said it would get the game back onto the Apple App Store after it changes a few things in the game.