A coronavirus-themed video game available on Steam has been banned from China as its content has been deemed “politically motivated.”
The video game, Coronavirus Attack, has reportedly used a flag which has exchanged the stars in the Chinese flag for small virus proteins–similar to the ones that caused a miniature diplomatic crisis after a Danish cartoonist designed an identical flag at the initial phase of the Covid-19 outbreak.
According to The BBC, the objective to win the game is to stop “selfish zombies” escaping a country infected by the coronavirus.
Since, the game has been bombarded with negative reviews–but, in spite of the negative reviews, China was recently revealed to be deploying bots on social media to sway Western narratives to their favor in light of the recent global pandemic.
Some Steam users have demanded for the game to be removed entirely.
At press time, the game is still available on Steam for less than $2.
According to the game’s description, “Your purpose is to prevent the selfish zombie virus carriers from escaping and infecting others,” and “You must destroy the carriers as much as possible and collect more DNA to develop more lethal trait properties and clear the carriers before they develop corresponding immunity.”
The BBC reported:
“A selfish-zombie virus has infected throughout the country,” reads the game’s description.
“The virus carriers are attempting to flee the country.
“Your purpose is to prevent the selfish zombie virus carriers from escaping and infecting the world.”
Other politically-charged features of the game included badges to be collected trolling China over Taiwan and Hong Kong.
The game’s creator, MythZ, has signaled his discontent at China’s handling of the crisis–a sentiment mirrored by many around the world. Yesterday, a Rasmussen poll found that 70% of polled registered voters wanted economic restrictions on China.
The game Plague Inc–which had enjoyed a spike in popularity at the onset of the global pandemic–was banned from China in March, given its connotations.
Another offensive game was granted a sequel. The objective was to harm SJWs, progressives, and members of the LGBT community while playing as Jesus Christ, Trump, or Hitler.
