Apple Pulls Top Free iOS App 'Weed Firm' from App Store

weed_firm_iconReleased earlier this month, somewhat controversial iOS game Weed Firm quickly shot to the top of the App Store charts for free apps. The game centers around a marijuana business, with the player controlling a character responsible for all aspects of growing and selling the product.

Just as quickly as it arrived, Weed Firm has disappeared from the App Store, with the game's developer, Manitoba Games, tweeting yesterday that the game would be removed for "a few days" to address "a few maintenance things". That may not be the complete story, however, as Manitoba Games has posted a note on its website (via CNET) noting that the removal "was entirely Apple's decision, not ours."

The developers don't share Apple's specific justification for the removal, claiming that while there may have been some objections to "illegal activities", Apple must have simply thought it was "too good" of a game as there are a number of other marijuana-themed apps available in the App Store.

We guess the problem was that the game was just too good and got to number one in All Categories, since 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 Android version of Weed Firm has also been removed from Google Play, but the developer claims that this is due to an issue with the app's publisher rather than any action by Google.

Manitoba Games promises that Weed Firm will be returning to the App Store shortly, although some of the more controversial aspects of the game may need to be toned down given the close scrutiny Apple will undoubtedly give the app upon review.

Apple maintains a list of review guidelines for App Store submissions, but as part of the document's broader themes the company also reserves the right to reject "any content or behavior that we believe is over the line". As such, Weed Firm may simply have been a borderline case that garnered a second look as it soared to the top of the charts. But exactly what changes Apple will require of the app's developers in order for Weed Firm to return remain to be seen.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
terminal macos tahoe

Apple's Terminal App Gets Colorful Redesign in macOS Tahoe

Monday June 16, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's Terminal app is getting a visual refresh in macOS Tahoe, and it's the first notable design update since the command-line tool debuted. The updated Terminal will support 24-bit color and Powerline fonts, according to Apple's State of the Platforms presentation at WWDC25. The app will also adopt the new Liquid Glass aesthetic with redesigned themes that align with macOS 26's broader...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...

Top Rated Comments

dannyyankou Avatar
145 months ago
So Grand Theft Auto is allowed on the App Store but a game about weed isn't?

Alrighty then.
Score: 49 Votes (Like | Disagree)
aaronvan Avatar
145 months ago
Yet the "Whack a Girl in the Head With a Shovel" game is still available. :confused:
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
uknowimright Avatar
145 months ago
shouldn't games where you kill people also be considered games with "illegal activities"?
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AngerDanger Avatar
145 months ago
Well, it was a bit too skeuomorphic, but it's nothing a simple design tweak can't fix:



How did this get approved in the first place.
Perhaps by not breaking any laws or Apple policies; there are other drug-oriented apps on the store, apparently.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dysamoria Avatar
145 months ago
Those political bafoons sure did a very solid job of poisoning the USA against this useful plant and mostly harmless drug. I still think pot heads are idiots, but it's become clear to me that weed is far less a legit problem in the USA than alcohol and other street drugs. Then we have the fully legal and worshipped drugs: caffeine, cigarettes, & sugar/sweeteners. The worst of all of them being the legal use of psych drugs, constantly pushed by "healthcare" industry people to everyone and anyone for everything and anything.

Once capitalists stop fearing marijuana, they will have an explosion of opportunism over the plant. The only down side for corporate America is it cannot be patented. That's why Dow chemical was so heavily involved in political lobbying to make it illegal in the first place.

If it cannot be exploited by capitalism, it's unwanted here. Know what other things cannot be exploited by capitalism? Democracy, representation, reedom, justice, truth, independent thought, and all the other stuff Americans think our nation stands for.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bberger Avatar
145 months ago
Good for them.

Good for who? Apple's action feels excessively paternalistic to me. I understand and respect Apple's right to curate its App Store. That is part of what distinguishes the Apple ecosystem. But there is a point at which curation tilts into the domain of nanny state, and this cuts a bit close to the later, IMHO.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)