Fear of the coronavirus is sweeping across the globe as dozens of people have lost their lives to the outbreak which steams from China. In China’s Hubei province, the area of Wuhan has been locked down, with residents banned from leaving in an effort to prevent further spread.
The deadly disease has had a strange knock-on effect for the video games market though, as market analysts App Annie reports that the outbreak simulation game, Plague Inc, has jumped to the top of the mobile app store in China.
Although that sounds pretty…strange…for a country facing a pandemic, Plague Inc is actually a very realistic way to look into the spread of disease and infection. The game sees you play as a bioterrorist, with the aim of destroying the planet. A simulation game with a lot of science behind it, Plague Inc has been praised for it realism and true-to-life exploration of disease.
Over on Steam, the PC version of the game has seen a number of recent reviews that reference the coronavirus, and social media has also been flooded with people comparing Plague Inc to the real-life events happening in China.
The developers behind Plague Inc took to Twitter to share some information, telling its players: “We’re getting a lot of questions about the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak- the World Health Organization has some great information.”
One user shared some insights they’d learned about the real outbreak from the Plague Inc game, tweeting: “So what I’ve learnt from plague inc is that if you attack China & India (major population hubs) first, you have the greatest chance of successfully affecting and killing the entire world population- which is why the coronavirus is so deadly. see mom video games did teach me smth.”
As concerns over the deadly coronavirus grow, the World Health Organisation has issued the following statement: “WHO has been working with Chinese authorities and global experts from the day we were informed, to learn more about the virus, how it affects the people who are sick with it, how they can be treated, and what countries can do to respond.”
Featured Image Credit: Ndemic Creations