With the death toll for the Wuhan Coronavirus now climbing above 100, and over 3,000 people infected worldwide, strategy pandemic-simulation game, Plague Inc. has seen a meteoric rise up the app store charts.
The game has also seen a massive increase in player activity on Steam in the last month, with a 125% increase in January.
This isn’t the first time Plague Inc’s popularity has coincided with a viral outbreak.
In 2015, when the Brazilian Zika virus spread around the world, the game saw a massive 144% increase in player activity on Steam.
The cholera outbreak of October 2016 also coincided with a 134% spike in player activity.
The Kivu Ebola epidemic of 2018 saw a 60% increase in activity.
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With the surge in interest in the game, Plague Inc. developers, NdemicCreations have issued a statement specifically telling players that the game “is not a scientific model” and that players should get their information about the virus from local and global health authorities.
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