An iOS video game based on the conflict in Syria has been rejected by Apple.
'Endgame: Syria' was designed to explore the civil conflict between President Assad's regime and the rebel fighters, which the UN says has claimed more than 60,000 lives.
The game allows users "to explore the options open to the Syrian rebels as they push the conflict to its endgame".
Gamers can choose to deploy different units, seek political resolution in different ways and attempt to negotiate your way to a positive - or less negative - outcome.
But the game apparently failed to pass Apple's restrictions on apps that "solely target a specific race, culture, a real government or corporation, or any other real entity".
Its developers GameTheNews claimed they had submitted it in good faith, and would re-submit it after altering the content. But they added they were disappointed that Apple had turned down the game.
Designer (and Huffington Post Blogger) Tomas Rawlings said in a statement:
"This decision is a shame really as it makes it hard to talk about the real world. We had hoped that Apple would be more nuanced in how they applied this rule but we got a bit worried when it had been in submission for around two weeks without a decision.
"We then figured that because of the controversy of using the gaming medium to cover an ongoing war meant passing the game had become an issue for them."
The game is still available to play online as an HTML5 application here.