The Cyberspace Administration of China continues to fight the good fight against COVID-19 with the only way they know how; banning everything remotely related to viruses in general. While the virus continues to wrap its tendrils around the globe, China is continuing its bizarre methodology of limiting its citizen’s knowledge of current events.
While the Cyberspace Administration of China was quick to remove the game Plague, Inc from the China App Store, their continuing efforts to stop citizens from experiencing the title is interesting, at the very least. Their efforts have now cumulated to getting Steam to remove Plague Inc from the international platform, at least as far as the Chinese citizens are involved. The title will remain on the Steam platform for the rest of the world to continue to enjoy.
Plague Inc. has now also been removed from Steam in China
— Plague Inc. / Rebel Inc. (@NdemicCreations) March 2, 2020
Ndemic Creations, the developers behind Plague Inc and Rebel Inc, have been working with the Center For Disease Control (better known as the CDC) to stymie the rapid growth of the newest pandemic, COVID-19 (also perhaps better know as the Coronavirus), and have equally taken to task with their newest title of Rebel Inc, highlighting countries and citizens that find themselves trapped in conflict between insurgents and governmental bodies.
Yet China’s apparent interest in Plague Inc is beginning to turn some heads from the likes of BBC; for nothing else other than interesting happenstance between the game thaey’re trying to remove, and the current pandemic stretching around the globe.
Plague Inc is a title that tasks players to develop a virus, or disease, that brings humanity to its downfall. Curating and evolving the disease to ensure lethality while maintaining a low profile is necessary, and spreading the virus as far as possible is necessary to win. The viruses and diseases range in terms of contagion and effects, with new options and mechanics unlocked after a successful run for future playthroughs. It’s all relatively above board as far as video games, and the ‘illegal content’ that the Cyberspace Administration of China continues to vaguely refer to is puzzling.
Unless they’re referencing the act of building a virus, and intentionally spreading it.
There is a whole one Level 4 microbiology lab in all of China, located right next to where the original outbreak of COVID-19 occurred in Wuhan, China, called the National Biosafety Laboratory. The New York post also alleges that many research facilities end up selling the animals after they run tests on them, selling them to street vendors to produce into food. The outbreak comes from a seafood market in Wuhan, roughly a mile away from the bioresearch lab.
It seems the Barbara Streisand effect is alive and well in the modern-day, as China’s desperate attempts to remove themselves as the cause of the modern epidemic only cement their ties with the deadly virus. It will be interesting to see if Afghanistan bans Rebel Inc.
