Good news for UK studio Ndemic Creations: the company has recently seen rising sales in its game Plague Inc., a real-time strategy that lets you destroy the world with an ever-evolving pathogen. This is clearly coinciding with the recent Coronavirus outbreak that killed 26 people in China so far.

Most of the sales are from China, where players are using the game to get a better understanding of how diseases spread. However, game creator James Vaughn has put out a public statement to seek out local and global health authorities for information on the Coronavirus instead of using Plague Inc. as a learning tool.

You know, from actual experts of the field. Vaughn’s statement is below.

“The Coronavirus outbreak in China is deeply concerning and we’ve received a lot of questions from players and the media.

Plague Inc. has been out for eight years now and whenever there is an outbreak of disease we see an increase in players, as people seek to find out more about how diseases spread and to understand the complexities of viral outbreaks.

We specifically designed the game to be realistic and informative, while not sensationalising serious real-world issues. This has been recognised by the CDC and other leading medical organisations around the world.

However, please remember that Plague Inc. is a game, not a scientific model and that the Coronavirus is a very real situation which is impacting a huge number of people. We would always recommend that players get their information directly from local and global health authorities.”