Plague Inc. and the Coronavirus
Daniel Robbins
Plague Inc is a mobile based video game designed by game studio NDEMIC Creations. It has been quite popular in the past, running on a range of platforms including iOS, Android, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, among others. I myself have played Plague, never thinking the events of my gameplay would one day replicate themselves in real life so vividly. Now, with more than 213 thousand global cases of Covid-19 and mass hysteria affecting the world in every corner, the game is more popular than ever before. The recent events of the coronavirus pandemic are eerily similar to the highlights of the mobile game Plague Inc that millions have played and enjoyed. Plague Inc, which describes itself as a “unique mix of high strategy and terrifyingly realistic simulation,” has users name, create, and spread a disease in a mission to infect and kill off the entire world.
While Plague Inc is designed to simulate a real life crisis, the game’s creator James Vaughan has warned that the app is by no means scientifically accurate. This hasn’t stopped a flurry of YouTubers from seizing the moment and downloading the game and uploading their own attempts at ending humanity, some trying to ‘predict’ the spread of the virus along the way. Many gamers have ultimately been successful at wiping out all of humanity using the program, and the top videos have been watched hundreds of thousands of times.
Plague Inc. creator James Vaughan says that the outbreak has been “very concerning” and also commented that outbreak of disease always leads to more downloads as people “seek to find out more about how diseases spread and to understand the complexities of viral outbreaks.” Indeed, current events have skyrocketed the game’s popularity. Plague Inc ended up reaching the top spot on Apple’s App Store charts, and subsequently got banned in China. There is also an ethical debate over whether it is okay to make light of a virus that has killed over three thousand people and counting, with YouTuber D’Angelo Wallace expressing concerns in a video.
Before you swear off all games completely, consider the value that can come from entertainment, whether it be accurate scientifically or not. As the coronavirus pandemic has taken control of our lives, we are left isolated at home without much to do. A game that gives us something to do is not in itself a bad thing. In the face of crisis, Business insider reports that “Mental health experts believe games of all kinds can help reduce depression and anxiety, and disaster simulators can help people by giving them a sense of control over the situation.” In addition, disaster simulators can help give people a kind of “exposure therapy” that helps deal with anxiety related to coronavirus. Another benefit of YouTubers producing coronavirus content, albeit through a game, is that it raises more awareness to the issue, appealing to an audience that otherwise might not take the virus as seriously. Time will tell how Plague Inc’s response to the coronavirus continues to influence our lives, and how the rapidly moving effects of the coronavirus change how we view entertainment.
Source:
https://www.businessinsider.com/youtubers-are-playing-a-game-to-predict-coronavirus-spread-2020-3
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