---
title: "Reading the Room, “Plague Inc” Makes Game About Stopping Pandemics"
description: "In a move that makes the game a bit more appropriate to our current reality, \"Plague Inc\" made a mode where players stop rather than spread a pandemic."
date: "2020-11-12"
modified: "2020-11-12"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/plague-inc-game-stopping-pandemics"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "coronavirus"
  - "Pandemic"
  - "plague inc."
  - "the digest"
  - "video games"
---

# Reading the Room, “Plague Inc” Makes Game About Stopping Pandemics

![In a move that makes the game a bit more appropriate to our current reality, "Plague Inc" made a mode where players stop rather than spread a pandemic.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/plague-inc-game-stopping-pandemics.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Ndemic Creations\</em\>*

## 180 Degrees

In a total pivot, the game "Plague Inc" is launching a new mode called "The Cure," where the player works to stop a global pandemic instead of starting one.

Typically, the point of the game is to design a deadly disease. But given the COVID-19 pandemic, game developer Ndemic Creations decided to make a version that's more, well, appropriate to our current reality, *[The Verge ](<https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/12/21562482/plague-inc-the-cure-game-pandemic-covid-19-cepi-who-ios-android>)*[reports](<https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/12/21562482/plague-inc-the-cure-game-pandemic-covid-19-cepi-who-ios-android>). Ndemic clarified that the game is not a real scientific model, but that it is grounded in expert advice, putting the player in a realistic simulation of a pandemic response team.

## Changing Sides

That last distinction is important, as the game found itself in a tricky position when the pandemic began. Back in January, Ndemic Creations had to [put out a reminder](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/makers-plague-inc-game-get-coronavirus-info-elsewhere>) that the game is not a reliable source of information about disease transmission. The same holds true for the new game mode, though developers hope it's at least somewhat informative.

"Eight years ago, I never imagined the real world would come to resemble a game of Plague Inc. or that my game would be in a position to help educate and inform people," Ndemic Creations James Vaughn [said in a press release](<https://www.ndemiccreations.com/en/news/184-plague-inc-the-cure-is-out-now-for-ios-and-android>).

## Practice, Perfect

Now, instead of mutating a disease to cause more symptoms or cross a national border undetected, players will develop vaccines, launch contact tracing programs, and fund scientific research.

The new game mode will be free "until COVID-19 is under control," Vaughn said in the release. It's already available on [iOS](<https://apps.apple.com/us/app/plague-inc/id525818839>) and [Android](<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.miniclip.plagueinc&hl=en_US&gl=US>), with future releases planned for PC and consoles.

**READ MORE:** [Plague Inc. now has a free mode where you fight a pandemic](<https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/12/21562482/plague-inc-the-cure-game-pandemic-covid-19-cepi-who-ios-android>) \[*The Verge*\]

**More on *Plague Inc*:** *[As Coronavirus Looms, China Bans Videogame "Plague Inc"](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/coronavirus-china-bans-videogame-plague-inc>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)