The Links Between Coronavirus And Resident Evil

The Coronavirus is the first scary disease of the new decade. In case you haven’t been following the news, the newly discovered virus has spread massively in the town of Wuhan in China. (You could say it’s gone viral.) although Coronaviruses are very common, the common cold is an example, this particular strain has led to more than a hundred deaths already, and is spreading rapidly enough to be considered a concern.

And…

So what has coronavirus got to do with the world of eSports or video games you might ask. Well, we are glad you did. Because we shouldn’t always take life too seriously we couldn’t help but be mildly amused by the fact that this outbreak has led to a spike in downloads of the popular virus sim, Plague Inc. The popular strategy game, made by Ndemic games has climbed to the top of the download charts in both Russia and China.

Simming for their future

It is thought that many of these downloads are people curious to see how such a virus might potentially spread. There have already been jokes made on social media about how with this recent outbreak that people are going to all move to Greenland. If you have played the game you will know how hard it is to get any kind of virus to infect Greenland, due to its isolated nature and cold temperature.

While the game does pride itself on its realism and does try to shy away from sensationalism, the developers have been quick to point out that it is “just a game”. And not a scientific simulator, so results should be taken with a pinch of salt. The statement read:

“The Coronavirus outbreak in China is deeply concerning and we’ve received a lot of questions from players and the media.

Plague Inc. has been out for eight years now and whenever there is an outbreak of disease we see an increase in players, as people seek to find out more about how diseases spread and to understand the complexities of viral outbreaks.

We specifically designed the game to be realistic and informative, while not sensationalising serious real-world issues. This has been recognised by the CDC and other leading medical organisations around the world.

However, please remember that Plague Inc. is a game, not a scientific model and that the current coronavirus outbreak is a very real situation which is impacting a huge number of people. We would always recommend that players get their information directly from local and global health authorities.”

Don’t panic

So there we have it, just because you created a version of this new virus and from its humble home in China, it managed to wipe out humanity on Plague Inc. There is no need to panic. However I can still recommend Greenland for a holiday, and better safe than sorry eh?

Also

Adding to the video game link is the fact that nearby the outbreak site there is a biological research facility. If that weren’t insidious enough the company has a logo that is almost identical to the Umbrella cooperation from the Resident Evil series. Fortunately, as yet there are no reports of Zombie-like symptoms for the condition, but if the Zombie apocalypse does kick-off, you can rest assured we will write an article on it.

Further links

Adding to the crazy conspiracy theories people have pointed out that Corona is an anagram of Racoon. For those well versed in Resi-Evil law, you will know that the original outbreak took place in Raccoon City. Surely that can’t be a coincidence? I just got a chill down my spine!