4th and Battery, an offshoot brand developed by PopCap Games to develop edgier and more risque games, announced yesterday evening that their first game was denied by Apple's approval process. This is more than a little bit surprising. Over the past year, the approval process has been little more than a formality for major games companies. Apple's banhammer has usually been reserved as a filter for porn-apps, or apps that just don't work.

4th and Battery seem to be taking it in stride though, as they've sent out a few tweets that at least suggest a light-hearted tone about the event. ""WTF? Apple rejected Unpleasant Horse cuz of "mature content?" We thought horses dying in meat grinders was wholesome family entertainment!" Though that comment has since been deleted. As the tweet implies, the app was rejected because apparently Apple didn't feel it matched the rating they were going for.

According to further tweets, 4th and Battery will be resubmitting the app with a higher rating. Unpleasant Horse, as we reported a few days ago, casts the player as a thoroughly bad natured horse with wings and a skull tatoo. For reasons unknown to us, this horse is so ill tempered that it commits unspeakable deeds to all the good horses.

We're hoping Apple approves it with the higher rating, because the mix of the awesome concept and the 4th and Battery team sounds like a golden combination. Plus it's free. You can't beat free.