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Plague Inc. game about pandemics kicked out of China App Store, creators say

The game simulates the spread of a pathogen globally.

screen-shot-2020-02-27-at-11-20-59-am.png
Plague Inc. simulates the spread of a pathogen globally. 
Ndemic Creations

Makers of mobile game Plague Inc. say the game is no longer available in the China App Store

In a blog post Thursday, Ndemic Creations said the app, which lets players simulate and strategize the spread of disease globally, was taken down because it "includes content that is illegal in China as determined by the Cyberspace Administration of China."

"It's not clear to us if this removal is linked to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak that China is facing," the company said in the post. "However, Plague Inc.'s educational importance has been repeatedly recognized by organizations like the CDC."

In 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention actually invited founder James Vaughan to speak and ran a Q&A on its website about the game.

This comes as China and other countries are grappling with the spread of a novel coronavirus, which has infected more than 82,000 people and claimed over 2,800 lives since first reported to the World Health Organization on New Year's Eve.