Plague Inc. Developer Comments on Coronavirus Following Spike in Sales

Ndemic Creations has released a statement warning Plague Inc. players that their strategy simulation game, which tasks users with evolving a deadly pathogen in an effort to destroy the world, is "not a scientific model" for how disease spreads after the app skyrocketed in popularity amid the current coronavirus outbreak in China. According to Eurogamer, James Vaughan, creator of Plague Inc., commented on the game's chart-topping status in China, urging users to visit the World Health Organization's website and not to rely on the game itself for real-world situations. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2013/02/26/plague-inc-zombie-virus-commentary"] "The Coronavirus outbreak in China is deeply concerning and we've received a lot of questions from players and the media," Vaughan said. "Plague Inc. has been out for eight years now and whenever there is an outbreak of disease we see an increase in players, as people seek to find out more about how diseases spread and to understand the complexities of viral outbreaks. "We specifically designed the game to be realistic and informative, while not sensationalising serious real world issues. This has been recognised by the CDC and other leading medical organisations around the world. However, please remember that Plague Inc. is a game, not a scientific model and that the Coronavirus is a very real situation which is impacting a huge number of people."

The real-world virus outbreak also brought out the black humor in gamers. 2012's Plague Inc. -- where players evolve a pathogen to wipe out humanity -- is now China's top paid iOS game. https://t.co/JdYrVJzwZX pic.twitter.com/inJ5jGvEJ2

— Zheping Huang (@pingroma) January 22, 2020

The BBC reports that Plague Inc. became the best-selling app in China's version of the Apple Store on Wednesday, as tens of millions of people were placed under lockdown across the country – with all public transport in and out of the city of Wuhan suspended in an attempt to halt the outbreak. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=all-the-big-games-coming-in-2020&captions=true"] In recent days, the coronavirus has spread from Wuhan to a number of Chinese cities including Beijing and Shanghai, as well as the United States, Thailand, South Korea and Japan, with more than 800 people now infected by the disease globally – although WHO has clarified the risk of becoming infected with the virus in the U.S. is low, as reported by NPR. As a further preventative measure, China has temporarily closed 70,000 movie theaters as several distributors cancelled their biggest movie releases ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year, which traditionally marks a high season at the box office. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.