Mumbai-based gaming company to release 'Abortion Simulator' app

Kierun Studios, a Mumbai-based gaming company, is developing a game that will allow players to simulate various methods of abortions ranging from "a few weeks" to "24+ week complex cases."

According to the developer, "Abortion Simulator will put you right in the middle of the surgery room and let you perform various abortions," from early-term to "24+ week complex cases."

Screenshots of the game show cartoon characters at an abortion clinic, surgical tours and images of fetuses at various stages. One image, which appears to be the opening screen, shows a pregnant woman on an operating table looking worried. Other images appear to show surgical tools trying to reach the baby inside the womb.

Eli Hodapp, a reviewer at TouchArcade, said that it is unlikely that the game will be approved by Apple, as it may fall under the company's definition of "objectionable content."

"Apps should not include content that is offensive, insensitive, upsetting, intended to disgust, or in exceptionally poor taste," the first entry in the App Store review guidelines read.

Hodapp said he believes that "everyone would agree that something like this is, at absolute minimum, insensitive and upsetting" regardless of their stance on abortion.

The reviewer further noted that Kierun Studios is known for releasing controversial titles. Hodapp pointed out that "Shower Buddy," a previous title from the company, has caused an "incredible stir" on TouchArcade's forums.

In a forum post on TouchArcade, the company tried to address concerns about the game. The developers explained that their intention with the app was "not to make fun of the sensitive topic of abortion or to steer your opinion about it in a particular direction."

"Most people we surveyed, Abortion, was a black box to them. Pregnant women goes in a clinic, comes out with foetus aborted. Everything that happens in between, nobody could speak much about it," the company wrote.

The developers stated that their aim with the simulator was to provide a "bird's eye view of the process that happens in between" and make the players become aware of chemical and surgical approaches, how the procedure varies based on how further along the woman is in the pregnancy and how the complexity varies based on weeks.

According to the studio, there will be no scores, coins, leaderboards or achievements in the game, and it will instead just walk the player through the process. The developers further noted that there will be a proper content rating in place to avoid children from downloading the app.