Ndemic Creations, maker of the pandemic simulation game Plague Inc., says the game has been pulled from Apple’s App Store in China because Chinese authorities say it “includes content that is illegal in China as determined by the Cyberspace Administration of China.”
The popular game — which asks players to shepherd a virus’ deadly spread around the world — has been available on the Chinese App Store for years without issue. Ndemic says it’s “not clear to us if this removal is linked to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak that China is facing,” but it certainly seems like the most likely proximate cause…
World events aside, Plague Inc. also received an early December “Fake News” update that added “a radically different scenario which lets you create your very own Fake News story and deceive the world with it,” according to the game’s public patch notes. Industry analyst Daniel Ahmad notes on Twitter that China has in the past restricted games that “harm the public ethics, disrupt social order, or undermine social stability,” including titles that contain “false information.”
MacDailyNews Take: It’s important to ban games because they so often affect actual reality. Obviously Apple’s move to pull the game has resulted in China getting the coronavirus under control, so it was worth the effort.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “TJ” for the heads up.]