Plague simulation game banned in China during the Coronavirus

China has banned the video game “Plague Inc” for containing what they call “Illegal content.” This was likely done in fear that the game would exacerbate panic surrounding the coronavirus.

Developers of the game argue that it serves a very important educational purpose and are attempting to reverse the ban.

Things like video games can have a large impact on society, and the government of China has realized this. The question of exactly how it affects society is up for debate; does a game like Plague inc benefit society by teaching about disease control or does it harm society inducing fear in people?

“Coronavirus: Plague Inc. Game Banned in China.” BBC News, BBC, 28 Feb. 2020, www.bbc.com/news/technology-51673293.

6 thoughts on “Plague simulation game banned in China during the Coronavirus

  1. According to the developer of this game has stated that while this game serves as an educational tool, but it can not be seen as a scientific model. I personally think that this game would not be well suited during a time when everybody is already in fear of this new virus. There should be a better way to educate people about the danger of the corona virus. We should listen to global health authorities on this matter.Source: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/plague-inc-maker-dont-use-our-game-for-coronavirus-modeling/

  2. I remember playing Plague, Inc a couple years ago. I do see how people can be panicked by this game in situations such as the current outbreak of Coronavirus. This is a game in which the player’s goal is to infect all the world as if it were an infectious disease. In the game, simulation of propagation of viruses, and the beginning of a pandemic is wholesomely accurate.

    Right now, stories about new Coronavirus cases emerge every day, and we get to learn how easy it is to get infected while traveling in public transport, or even by plane or ship.
    Plague Inc would simulate the propagation with these same methods of transport. Therefore, I can see how people might perceive danger after playing the game and hearing about new cases of infection.
    It is interesting how China banned the game in hopes of keeping its population a little less panicked with all this Coronavirus situation.
    Great Post!

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/27/opinion/coronavirus-pandemics.html
    Tweeted by Plague,Inc’s developer, Ndemic Creations.

  3. I believe that this app could serve both purposes, an educational purpose as well as inducing panic on citizens of china but a very limited purpose in my opinion. I believe that the game is capable of teaching players how certain viruses spread and are able to be contained and controlled. I think that banning the app from being able to be played by the people of china is useless in the sense that they are trying to control panic. Weather that game is available or not has little to do with peoples prior knowledge of the corona virus. I believe that without the game there would be an equal amount of worry over the virus, I also think that playing the game might lead to obsessing about the virus and possibly unnecessary worry but I believe that it doesn’t contribute to actual panic of the people of china. I believe that this ban wasn’t necessary, I think that china is just on edge and more sensitive to this subject due to its current state. I believe that the media is also giving too much attention and causing more panic than is necessary concerning this virus. If you look at the stats you will see that roughly 88,000 people worldwide (80,000 of which originated in china) have been affected and only 3,000 total people have died. Originating in china, this virus has only affected .005759% of china’s population (1.386 billion), with less than half of a percent affected, I believe that the situation isn’t as bad as the media portrays it.

  4. Although I understand the purpose of this and their goals of creating this game, I feel like it’s better if they actually just do it through other educational means. I feel like having it be done through a game won’t be the best method because not everyone would be able to have access to it where if you had that type of thing in a video format, you can argue that the recipients would be a lot more open to interacting with that method due to it being a traditional way of learning.

  5. Although I do not support the ban, I am actually not too surprised by this article. Every country is freaking out about global networks and even the stock market has taken quite the plummet. Knowing how hard China can be when it comes to censorship, I assumed this would’ve happened sooner. The game developers do have a valid point, but I do not think they will win in this scenario. This is very unique because it does serve educational purposes. On the other hand, it is very difficult to contain this disease causing mass panic to the point of students abroad being sent home, and companies like Nestle completely stopping travel. I do believe that China’s government is taking smart precautions, but this one deems unnecessary to me.

    Sources: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-nestle/nestle-asks-staff-to-stop-international-travel-amid-coronavirus-epidemic-idUSKCN20K2U1

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