Published 13:12 IST, January 27th 2020
Video game Plague Inc's maker urges players to avoid game for information on Coronavirus
Plague Inc.'s maker Ndemic Creations has issued a warning to its users to not rely on the game for information on coronavirus. The disease has claimed 86 lives.
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With China reeling from the coronavirus outbreak that has claimed 80 lives, popular mobile game Plague Inc's maker Ndemic Creations has issued an official notice asking people to find information on the disease through official sources. According to reports, in a statement, the game maker said that the viral outbreak is a grave situation that has affected a lot of people.
Our website is currently offline due to very high player numbers. I'm copying our statement on the coronavirus outbreak here so people can still see it.https://t.co/pA6CUS7nJI pic.twitter.com/StXP6aemDe
— Plague Inc. / Rebel Inc. (@NdemicCreations) January 24, 2020
Ndemic Creations said, "We would recommend that players get their information directly from local and global health authorities."
The company went on to say that it regularly sees an increase in new users joining the game amid the viral outbreak with an attempt to understand how diseases function and start spreading. Plague Inc.'s creator, James Vaughan said that the servers were back online and completely operational.
Plague Inc. was designed to be informative
The company said that the game was designed with an aim to be informative and realistic. Ndemic creations further added that the game is not an official scientific model and should not be looked upon as an authentic source of information.
Plague Inc. is an application and an online video game created by Ndemic Creations where players become a disease and have a target of infecting people across the world by creating new means of transmitting and affecting people. James Vaughan, the app's developer was invited in 2013 to address the crowd at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to explain the game.
The CDC lauded the game for teaching the public about the outbreak and transmission of disease to raise public awareness on epidemiology, disease transmission, and diseases/pandemic information.
China reeling with deadly Coronavirus outbreak
The Coronavirus has claimed the lives of 80 people with over 2,700 people affected by the viral outbreak of the disease. According to the Chinese health commission, the number of deaths in the Hubei province increased from 56 to 76.
According to reports, the coronavirus originated from seafood and animal market located in Wuhan. The viral outbreak has caused concern because of its similarity to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) which claimed the lives of almost 650 people across China and Hong Kong in the year 2002-2003.
(With inputs from Agencies)
13:12 IST, January 27th 2020