Ndemic Creations
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Anti-vaxxers are the newest threat in 'Plague Inc.'
Never underestimate the power of a viral petition -- and in this case we mean that quite literally. Strategy game Plague Inc., which sees players do their best to wipe out the world with infectious disease, is going to be given an anti-vaxxer scenario after its developers challenged fans to get a petition past 10,000 signatures. At the time of writing, the total had blown past 20,000.
Plague Inc. picks up more players during Ebola outbreak
In Plague Inc, players simulate fast-moving, contagious diseases in a bid to infect the entire world. Players are able to name their own diseases and experiment with simulated human behavior, such as eliminating hand-washing in certain countries or adding sophisticated hospital systems in others. The ongoing outbreak of Ebola in West Africa has drawn extra attention to Plague Inc, driving sales up in recent weeks, creator James Vaughan told the Daily Mail. "This hasn't been the biggest increase we've had in our downloads in 2014, but I think this is the first time a real-world situation has been the reason why people are getting the game," Vaughan said. On Twitter, he added, "Public concern about #Ebola has increased Plague Inc. downloads recently." Last week, 430,000 people downloaded the Plague Inc app, a rise of 147,000 over the same stat two weeks prior. During that same time, 4 million people played the game, 923,000 more than player numbers two weeks prior. Plague Inc launched in 2012 and has a player base of 35 million across iOS and Android. Plague Inc: Evolved hit Steam in February and there's a version in development for Xbox One.
Plague Inc: Evolved catches custom scenarios on Steam
The Steam Early Access version of Ndemic Creations' global pandemic sim Plague Inc: Evolved has updated with a new Scenario Creator, letting players unleash their own devastating diseases across a simulated Earth. After installing today's update, players are able to create and share their deadly scenarios with fellow Steam users via Steam Workshop. Over 200 custom-created scenarios have launched in the update's first day of release, and players can browse publicly shared creations using Plague Inc's new in-game browser. "The biggest and most-requested update yet, the Scenario Creator allows players to hit the lab and use the same tools that we do to create awesome new content for Plague Inc: Evolved," producer Marc Pick said. "The content will grant a dynamic flow of new, user-generated content to players of the game." [Image: Ndemic Creations]
Plague Inc. to contract Planet of the Apes-inspired Simian Flu
Plague Inc.'s concerningly-enthusiastic virus makers have smothered humanity in quite a few viruses, but they've yet to spread an epidemic that threatens to reassign apes as the world's dominant species. That's about to change, thanks to an update themed after the upcoming Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which should be available "very soon" for the mobile Plague Inc. and its PC and Mac counterpart, Plague Inc.: Evolved. It will also be a threat in the to-be-released Xbox One version of Evolved. Once the update adds the Simian Flu to a player's arsenal, it can be used against humanity as a lethal virus and as a supplementary aide to the spread of ape colonies. The press release notes tactical options like sending apes to attack research labs, hiding colonies from military drones and migrating to spare groups from experiment-happy scientists. We're wondering if an update to an update is out of the question – specifically, if we could get an additional movie tie-in with The Wizard of Oz, so that our ape colonies could sprout wings and don silly little vests. Maybe airborne origins would help us finally bring the impenetrable fortress known as Greenland to its knees ... [Image: Pandemic Creations]
Plague Inc: Evolved infecting PC players February 20
The PC master race could only resemble Madagascar for so long - Plague Inc's supervirus of fun is coming for all of you on February 20, but the mutation that takes you down will be called Plague Inc: Evolved. Mac and Linux players are targets for Evolved as well, but they'll be reached "as soon as possible" after the PC infection via Steam. Evolved will add multiplayer, allowing you to work with friends to find a cure or race to humanity's extinction. Your creative liberties can influence more than just a disease's name this time, too - players will be able to create new plague types and share their masterpieces via Steam Workshop. You'll also be able to watch your handiwork take its toll from a street view as well as an individual organ perspective ... you know, for science. While developer Ndemic Creations' FAQ for Evolved confirms the game will cost more than the original, it does not suggest a launch price. [Image: Ndemic Creations]
Plague Inc. spreads pulmonary fibrosis awareness through virtual contagion
Today is Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Day, a fact you might already be aware of if you've been playing Ndemic Creation's mobile game, Plague Inc. Ndemic first announced a team-up with the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation in June, but it wasn't until today that players started seeing an in-game news item which directs players to learn more about the condition. "This will be seen an estimated 9.8 million times in just two weeks - raising crucial awareness of this lung disease that has limited treatment options, no known cure, and kills someone every 13 minutes in the US alone," Plague Inc. creator James Vaughan wrote on the game's website. Vaughan told the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation in a special Q&A that although the game tends to "educate by accident," he believes that it will help players see that, "although Plague Inc. is a game – the diseases and symptoms it depicts are very real and that there is a lot of work needed to develop treatment and cures for them."
Plague, Inc. gets a new virus, delivered in an interesting way
Plague Inc. is one of the most popular strategy games on the App Store: It's a title with the gory premise of you controlling a plague running around the world, trying to infect as many people as possible before the rest of humanity can come up with a cure. The game's latest update is out this week, and it adds a new virus to play with called the "Necroa" virus. This virus reanimates dead people and causes them to want to attack the living -- in other words, it creates zombies, and the update comes with an extra opposition force called Z Com to mix up the strategy a little bit. But even more interesting than the new update to the game is how it's being distributed. If you can beat (or have beaten) Plague Inc. on the highest difficulty, you get the new content for free. If you can't, then you can get the content via an in-app purchase of US$1.99. I haven't seen an app do that before. Of course, a lot of apps have sold convenience items via in-app purchase, or used purchased items to let players reach goals faster, but I haven't ever seen a developer make an item available based on difficulty. We'll have to see exactly how that works for them as the update goes forward. In the meantime, the update is live right now, and you can download Plague Inc., if you haven't yet, for 99 cents.
