Plague Inc. Downloads Up 50% Thanks to Ebola Panic

[Sarah LeBoeuf]

Plague Inc. Downloads Up 50% Thanks to Ebola Panic

As the Ebola virus outbreak dominates the news, Ndemic Creations' disease-simulating strategy game Plague Inc. has seen a rise in mobile downloads.

With the Ebola outbreak reaching new locations and seemingly endless news stories covering the panic over the deadly disease, you might be tempted to quarantine yourself in your house for the foreseeable future. If you choose to hunker down with a game that Polygon [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/criticalintel/10333-The-Pathology-of-Plague-Inc], Vaughan said, "This is the first time something in the real world has has an effect on the sales charts... People are curious about it and want to know more about infectious diseases. Plague Inc. can play a role because it's an intelligent look at how infectious diseases can spread."

With a user base of about 35 million people, Vaughan acknowledged that Plague Inc. could help raise awareness, and says he's "talking to major charities to see if Plague Inc. can be used as a tool to help in some way." The developer also pointed out that the game's diseases aren't like Ebola because "the algorithms are designed to assume that air transmission is possible and they also don't assume that it takes a number of days or weeks before people are able to spread the disease." Despite mutation fears, it's currently not possible to spread the Ebola virus by air [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/scienceandtech/columns/forscience/12165-Plague-Inc-Creator-James-Vaughan-Talks-Ebola-Pandemics-and-his-v].

Plague Inc. may not slow the spread of Ebola, but it could help raise awareness of infectious diseases in general, as well as the outbreaks facing many areas of the world. "A disease in one country affects us all," Vaughan stated. "People have been talking about quarantining West Africa so we [elsewhere in the world] don't have to be concerned about it, but that is absolutely incorrect. In out multi-connected world, a disease in one country is a threat to everybody."

Source: Polygon [http://www.polygon.com/2014/10/27/7080069/ebola-plague-game-spikes-in-popularity]

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[Floppertje]

We already don't have to be concerned about it. You're far more likely to die of the flu than you are of ebola. One of the advantages of having a decent healthcare system and running water.

 

[cde]

I'm pretty sure that people's amusement at the media hysteria, and general morbid humour about pandemics, might be more at play here than "ebola panic".

Let's not pretend that Plague Inc. is a tool for global healthcare awareness. It's a game that makes you smile about the destruction of continents, like Defcon before it.

 

[P-89 Scorpion]

We already don't have to be concerned about it. You're far more likely to die of the flu than you are of ebola. One of the advantages of having a decent healthcare system and running water.

Unless you currently live in west Africa, but remember this more people were infected by Ebola in September than the previous 9 months of the current outbreak and all previous outbreaks going back to 1976 combined and October is already worse.

 

[LaughingAtlas]

Goddammit. I'm pretty sure I'm a bad person for wanting to see an Ebola epidemic in Madagasgar.

 

[Floppertje]

We already don't have to be concerned about it. You're far more likely to die of the flu than you are of ebola. One of the advantages of having a decent healthcare system and running water.

Unless you currently live in west Africa, but remember this more people were infected by Ebola in September than the previous 9 months of the current outbreak and all previous outbreaks going back to 1976 combined and October is already worse.

If you live in west africa you're still way more likely to die from other diseases. or civil wars. or the panic caused by ebola. even with the outbreak it's still very rare. there's like 4000 casualties in the western part of the continent where the population numbers in the hundreds of millions. It's fear mongering. The media keeps writing about it because people want to read about it and they like making money. If people are that worried all they need to do is wash their hands more often.

 

[Scrythe]

I'm actually, genuinely, shocked that they didn't take advantage of the ebola scare by putting on sale.

I don't know if that's admirable or if they just didn't think of it.

This is how little faith I have in my fellow man.

 

[FakDendor]

As a virologist myself, I can say that in "Plague Inc. terms" Ebola has high visibility, extremely high lethality, and relatively low infectivity. Not a good combination.

 

[P-89 Scorpion]

We already don't have to be concerned about it. You're far more likely to die of the flu than you are of ebola. One of the advantages of having a decent healthcare system and running water.

Unless you currently live in west Africa, but remember this more people were infected by Ebola in September than the previous 9 months of the current outbreak and all previous outbreaks going back to 1976 combined and October is already worse.

If you live in west africa you're still way more likely to die from other diseases. or civil wars. or the panic caused by ebola. even with the outbreak it's still very rare. there's like 4000 casualties in the western part of the continent where the population numbers in the hundreds of millions. It's fear mongering. The media keeps writing about it because people want to read about it and they like making money. If people are that worried all they need to do is wash their hands more often.

In the 3 infected countries they have a combined population of around 20 million with over 12 thousand officially infected plus 5000 dead but the WHO believes it to be 2-3 times higher due to those who die without making it to a hospital.

Also Ebola is currently the highest killer in those 3 countries plus due to the amount of health care worker deaths other diseases are killing more due to resource depletion.

As to 'washing your hands' you do realise if it was that easy to avoid there wouldn't be so many educated and wealthy people in those countries getting it but they are.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

Lol.

This is like suggesting that a recent spike in sales of The Sims could be attributed to Big Brother.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

Lol.

This is like suggesting that a recent spike in sales of The Sims could be attributed to Big Brother.

When the NSA leaks occurred, 1984 became one of the best-selling books in the country for like two weeks. A real shame, since it shows that by doing that, people are missing many of the broader practices mentioned in the book that are much more worrisome than a computer going through your Facebook page and flagging keywords.

I meant Big Brother the television show.

My point was, it's analogous to suggesting that an extremely poor example of domestic life is inspiring purchases of a domestic life sim.

 

[Vault101]

they grounded a plane in South Carolina because somebody got a nosebleed.

they [i/]what?[/i]

man I get nosebleeds fairly regularly...good thing the paranoia isn't here (I think we tend to assume ourselves safer from the follies of the western world being a relatively isolated island)

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

If people are that worried all they need to do is wash their hands more often.

According to an epidemiologist I used to drink with... if you count the number of times 'proper hygiene' and 'thorough hand washing' are mentioned in an official health statement/briefing, the total is the score out of 10 for 'how fucked everyone really is' according to the people who put the statement together. You get 8 or more mentions and its time to stock up on food, water, toilet paper, ammonia and bleach.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

If people are that worried all they need to do is wash their hands more often.

According to an epidemiologist I used to drink with... if you count the number of times 'proper hygiene' and 'thorough hand washing' are mentioned in an official health statement/briefing, the total is the score out of 10 for 'how fucked everyone really is' according to the people who put the statement together. You get 8 or more mentions and its time to stock up on food, water, toilet paper, ammonia and bleach.

The really sad part is that people think "thorough hand washing" is a quick 20-second rinse, sometimes but not always punctuated by a squirt of soap. I can't tell you how many people I've fired from restaurant jobs because I caught them doing exactly that before returning to the kitchen. People have no idea what proper hygiene is or are in too damn much of a rush to give a crap.
Granted I'm limited to my experience in America but in less developed countries I'd imagine there are even less people who understand the term.

 

[Svarr]

Of course this game would see more sales. :v
#Thanks_Ebola


I'm moving to Madagascar now, "It's safer there".