This is the last week for developers to submit their apps and app updates before the App Store is closed down for the winter holidays through December 22-29. It is kind of shocking that more apps weren't released this week, and makes one wonder if we will see an influx of apps released next Thursday. This also means there will be no App Store Recap on Saturday, December 27th.
The biggest App Store news of the week revolved around the newly released iPad version of Papers, Please and nudity. The hit PC game was initially rejected by Apple for containing "pornographic content" due to it offering a "nudity option". In the game players take on the role of a border patrol agent for the fictional state of Arstozka and can choose to submit people to invasive procedures such as full body scans. Developer Lucas Pope told Ars Technica that his "main concern with creating an iOS version of Papers, Please was that Apple would decide the game was strongly political and reject it outright," not that it would be rejected for its pixelated nudity. Apple "censoring" the political game sent the internet into a tizzy which made Pope rethink his own position and contact the company. Yesterday Pope announced that Apple said its "initial rejection for porn was a misunderstanding on their part," and suggested he resubmit the app with the nudity option.