Ndemic Creations flips game for Pandemic
Amid a global pandemic, there may be no video game more relevant than Ndemic Creations’ Plague Inc., but its developer may have some new plans for the game. A game in which you play has an evolving disease with the goal of infecting every region of the world, and killing every human with progressively worse symptoms may initially sound a little too close to home right now, but how else are you going to pass the time in self-quarantine? Developer Ndemic Creations has plans to flip the game on its head.
While Plague Inc. was designed to simulate what may actually happen during the course of a viral outbreak across the globe, Ndemic Creations reminds its gamers that a video game is no substitute for information from medical professionals and experts such as those at the United States’ Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) and the reality around the current COVID-19 pandemic needs to be taken seriously. As part of the effort to fight back against this pandemic, the game developer has donated $250,000 split between two non-profit organizations: the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
Ndemic Creations will also be introducing a new game mode for players, one where the goal will be to save the world from an evolving disease rather than playing the role of the disease and infecting the world. Players will control how world governments react to a sudden outbreak and will have to balance managing the spread of the disease with managing the infected by boosting healthcare systems all over the world. This new game mode is being developed with the advice of professionals at the WHO and will be available as soon as possible.
The COVID-19 pandemic is unlike anything my generation has faced before, and it’s essential to take it seriously and not panic. More and more U.S. states are issuing “stay-at-home” orders and closing non-essential businesses to help slow the spread of the virus, and it’s important for individuals to heed these warnings and stay home. As a country, a society, a community, we can make it through this crisis, we just have to be a little more aware of health dangers right now. On the bright side, there’s never been a better time in human history to be stuck inside your home.
