[Bu-aeri's Game Dictionary] Unjust 'Pandemic Game' Controversy Amid New Coronavirus

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] As the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia) spreads, the game "Plague Inc." has unexpectedly gained popularity, but concerns have been raised about the need for caution regarding infectious disease entertainment games. In response, gamers and the gaming industry have pushed back, calling it a "prejudice applied only to the gaming world."

Plague Inc. is a strategy simulation game where players aim to spread a virus worldwide and cause extinction using various methods. Players must block humanity's efforts to develop cures and antibiotics within the game. Interest in Plague Inc. has increased as the novel coronavirus epidemic continues.

According to Gamevolution on the 8th, Plague Inc., released in 2012, ranks first in paid apps on the Apple App Store and second in free apps on Google Play. Notably, it holds the number one spot in today's game rankings in China. It is rare for a package game released long ago to remain at the top ranks like this.

Regarding this phenomenon, while one media outlet introduced disaster movies as having a preventive effect, it reported that infectious disease-related games "should be cautioned against for trivializing a pandemic that causes global anxiety into mere entertainment," sparking controversy.

Gamers responded by arguing that this reflects a negative perception of games. One user expressed concern, saying, "People think games only have negative effects," and added, "They don't seem to consider that games can be educational."

In fact, Plague Inc. is introduced as an example of functional games abroad on the "Functional Games Comprehensive Portal" site operated by the Korea Creative Content Agency. Functional games refer to games designed to be easily accessible to everyone by combining entertainment elements with various fields such as education, sports, healthcare, defense, and public sectors.

Plague Inc. realistically reflects actual infectious diseases, viruses, bacteria, as well as each country's health policies and geographical factors. New scenarios based on real diseases like the Ebola virus and MERS have been added whenever such outbreaks occur.

An industry insider said, "Government policies and conservative scholars tend to look for cultural causes whenever an incident happens. For example, if a murder occurs, they might say the perpetrator played a lot of shooting games." He pointed out, "However, there is insufficient evidence that playing many shooting games makes someone a murderer."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.