After being removed from the Chinese App Store earlier this year, the developers of Plague Inc are making some substantial changes to the experience. The popular mobile and console game is all about allowing players to wipe out the population with a deadly pathogen but is now receiving a new game mode that has players doing just the opposite in the wake of current events. Head below for all the details.
Plague Inc:
Plague Inc. is essentially a game that was built to be as realistic and informative as possible, while still allowing players to wreak absolute global havoc with a deadly virus. Players create a patient zero and accrue DNA points as more people across the virtual globe fall ill. The game surged in popularity back in January — much the same way it did during the Ebola breakout of 2014 — which prompted Chinese officials to remove it from Steam and the App Store in China due to the unfortunate connection between it and real-world events. Developer Ndemic Creations was caught by surprise with the removal and was left completely helpless saying that, as realistic as the game might be, it’s not about “sensationalizing serious real-world issues,” nor is it to be used as a scientific model.
You Will Soon Save the World Instead:
Since that time, Ndemic has decided to donate $250,000 to Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. But it is also now hard at work on an all-new game mode where players must fight the spread of a worldwide pandemic. Being developed with help from the World Health Organization and the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, players must manage many of the issues we are dealing with in the real-world right now including health care infrastructure and triage, social distancing, public service closures, and much more.
Here are more details from Ndemic:
When arranging our donations with the WHO and CEPI, we were repeatedly asked if we could make a game which let the player work to stop an outbreak. Therefore, as well as providing financial support, we are accelerating work on a new Plague Inc. game mode which lets players save the world from a deadly disease outbreak.
The new Plague Inc. game mode will come available as a free update to all players, but there is no direct release date just yet.
9to5Toys’ Take:
What was a popular simulation game became very real as the spread of COVID-19 changed life for everyone across the globe. Clearly the folks at Ndemic are trying to do the right thing by its fan base and people everywhere with its sizable donation and upcoming freebie update. You can bet the development team is rushing around the office to get this thing out in time right now. As morbid a motivation as that might be, the new Plague Inc. game mode would be an eerily fitting experience for gamers everywhere who are still stuck at home practicing social distancing.
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