Plague Inc’s Bristol-based developer Ndemic Creations has felt moved to issue a formal statement after it received a big boost in sales of the game over in China.
The real-time strategy sim has undergone a surge in popularity during the initial stages of the coronavirus outbreak. In Plague Inc, you create and evolve a pathogen in an effort to destroy the world with a deadly plague, but although the game uses its own complex epidemic model, Ndemic want to warn people that it should not be consulted in place of actual real world knowledge.
“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,” the studio wrote in a new post on its website.
“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 current coronavirus outbreak is a very real situation, which is impacting a huge number of people. We would always recommend that players get their information directly from local and global health authorities.”
As of this writing, the coronavirus has now claimed 106 lives, with the number of infections having almost doubled in a day to more than 4,500.
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