Apple's latest update to the App Store's app and review policies has included a section about retro game emulation, meaning developers can distribute emulators through the App Store, though with a number of rules and regulations. Apple's devices have restrictions on running external source code, such as video game emulators. Due to the shaky legal and copyright issues that also come with video game emulators, Apple has never officially distributed them on the App Store.
Despite this, gamers have gotten Apple devices to run various retro video game emulators like RetroArch and OpenEmu. Sometimes, developers would disguise their apps and hide emulators within them to bypass Apple's review process and have their emulators distributed through the storefront. With the release of new guidelines, it appears that iOS users will have an officially sanctioned option for video game emulation soon. However, there appear to be a number of conditions that need to be met before an emulator can be distributed on the App Store.
In the updated version of the App Review Guidelines posted on Apple's Developer portal, there is a new section that lists how mini apps, mini-games, streaming games, chatbots, plug-ins, and game emulators could be put on Apple's App Store. The rules allow for these retro gaming console emulator apps to download games themselves. However, it states that all software offered in the app must comply with the Guidelines and applicable copyright law, with failure to meet these rules resulting in the app being rejected.
Apple's App Review Guidelines (April 2024)
While it initially sounds like any developer can release gaming emulator software on the App Store, these specific conditions make it less likely to be the case. Based on Apple's wording, it's likely these new rules will benefit gaming publishing companies more. For example, video game companies like Sega could offer an App on the store that would allow users to download and play any number of emulated Sega retro games, as the company owns the IPs and could legally distribute them.
As such, these new rules raise questions about whether any developer could release an emulator or if it will only be restricted to companies that own the rights to the games they wish to emulate on Apple devices. That said, these changes made to Apple's App Store policy are likely a result of the regulatory scrutiny it faced from the European Union and the United States. Other changes made to the App Store guidelines include making it easier for music streaming apps to redirect users to an external website in the EU, for example.
