Ndemic Creations, the developer of the popular game Plage Inc., will be adding anti-vaxxers to the game. The decision came after an online petition went viral, with overwhelming support for the new feature.
A petition to add anti-vaxxers as a possible scenario was brought to the attention of the developers. To everyone’s surprise, the developer took the bait; it went on to declare that if the petition gets over 10000 signatures, Ndemic Creations will add anti-vaxxers as a possible buff to pathogens in Plague Inc. The petition has over 21000 signatures at the time of writing.
Ok, fine! 😛 If this petition gets to 10k, will add a specific new anti-vaxxer scenario to Plague Inc. https://t.co/DJjmRFpOMa
— Plague Inc. / Rebel Inc. (@NdemicCreations) February 24, 2019
Plague Inc launched in 2012, and puts a superbug in your control. Your goal in the game is to get the pathogen to infect the world and kill everyone by mutating your pathogen. Mankind will devise measures to curb your infection rate in response to your mutations, and you’ll have to outsmart human intervention with your mutations.
Alright, alright! You spoke, we listened. Neurie's very happy to hear that we're going to start figuring out anti-vaxxers soon. He's dying to try and get inside their heads. https://t.co/fYq09awgJc pic.twitter.com/Sof0aJE0yw
— Plague Inc. / Rebel Inc. (@NdemicCreations) February 26, 2019
It’s interesting to see an old title garner so much attention, and in response to a global movement no less. In a statement to Eurogamer, Plague Inc. creator James Vaughan said “If adding something to the game helps some people understand the importance of vaccinations then it will be worth it.”
(Source: Ndemic Creations / Twitter [1], [2], Change.org via Eurogamer. Image: Ndemic Creations)
