Bad news for mobile gaming fans in China wishing to play out the intricacies of this world’s Coronavirus epidemic on their iPhones. Simulation title Plague Inc. has been removed from the iOS app store in China.

The reason? The Cyber Administration of China says the game included “illegal content”. No other specifics are mentioned prior to this removal. Despite the fact that developers Ndemic Creations are working with major global health organisations to support their efforts with the world’s Coronavirus epidemic, the removal is completely out of their control.

Some speculations: analyst Daniel Ahmad said that the removal was due to the following:

1. The game was never actually licensed to launch in China. It launched prior to that law coming into place.

2. The virus always starts in China no matter what. Might be an issue?

3. Might mislead people looking for advice?

The third bit of Daniel’s quote could be because of this post from Ndemic themselves. As people and developers who should be aware of how insecure China’s government are about such things because of how the Coronovirus originated from their side of the country, they should know better than to incure their wrath through passive aggressive methods. The latter is Asia’s thing, after all.

Here’s the official statement from the company following the app removal. 

We have some very sad news to share with our China based players. We’ve just been informed that Plague Inc. “includes content that is illegal in China as determined by the Cyberspace Administration of China” and has been removed from the China App Store. This situation is completely out of our control.

Plague Inc. is a huge critical and commercial success. Eight years old and with over 130 million players, it’s the #1 strategy/simulation game worldwide and has been the most popular paid game in China for many years. Plague Inc. stands out as an intelligent and sophisticated simulation that encourages players to think and learn more about serious public health issues. We have a huge amount of respect for our Chinese players and are devastated that they are no longer able to access and play Plague Inc. 

It’s not clear to us if this removal is linked to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak that China is facing. However, Plague Inc.’s educational importance has been repeatedly recognised by organisations like the CDC and we are currently working with major global health organisations to determine how we can best support their efforts to contain and control COVID-19.

We are working very hard to try and find a way to get the game back in the hands of Chinese players – we don’t want to give up on you – however, as a tiny independent games studio in the UK, the odds are stacked against us. Our immediate priority is to try and make contact with the Cyberspace Administration of China to understand their concerns and work with them to find a resolution.

Nothing is changing outside of mainland China: we will continue to support and update both Plague Inc. and our newest game Rebel Inc. on all platforms whilst also working hard to try and find a way to bring Plague Inc. back to players in China.