DMM Games’ turn-based RPG Twinkle Star Nights is in trouble after suddenly failing to clear the App Store’s screening. Released in July 2023, the game is rated 16+ and 17+ on the Play Store and App Store respectively, with a separate adult version hosted on Fanza.
On August 22, Twinkle Star Nights underwent scheduled maintenance to implement a new update (version 01.02.83), including in-game events. However, after unexpectedly failing to pass the platform’s review, the iOS version was denied the update. According to a statement by DMM Games from September 5, reviewers pointed out issues with some of the in-game animations and illustrations included in the update.
Wanting to solve the problem as quickly as possible, the publisher entered discussions with the App Store, implementing workarounds and correcting assets as told. But after attempting to submit Twinkle Star Nights for re-review, DMM Games was then informed that “all metadata (illustrations, animation, etc.) implemented since the initial 2023 release may require corrections.” This suggests the App Store retroactively found issue with content previously okayed for release. It’s not clear whether this is the result of a change in policy, but it appears to be another example of the increasingly strict content restrictions we’ve been seeing across major game platforms like Steam and itch.io.
This has been a large setback for DMM Games, who are currently reworking and re-submitting the entirety of Twinkle Star Nights in segments. Their goal is to have the whole game ready for re-review by the end of September at the earliest, but they don’t know how long it will take for it to be approved. The publishers have apologized to iOS players, who currently can’t access the game’s new events and features. As a temporary measure, DMM Games has prepared a cloud version of the game for iOS users to switch to.
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