You know that feeling when a game becomes real life? No? It probably doesn’t happen that often. But if you’re familiar with Plague Inc., you’ll know that the current COVID-19 outbreak is basically the premise of the game. Now the developers want to help curb the spread, instead of instigating it as it does in-game.

Ndemic Creations, the developers behind the contagion-spreading game, will donate a significant amount of money to aid authorities in the spread of the coronavirus. “On behalf of all players of Plague Inc. we’ve made a $250,000 donation split between the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World Health Organisation’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund,” a statement reads.

Everyone is impacted by COVID-19. On behalf of all Plague Inc. players, we have just donated a quarter of a million dollars to @CEPIvaccines and @WHO to help fight it.https://t.co/kAZtjwn89b pic.twitter.com/DinQpvRqCk

— Plague Inc. / Rebel Inc. (@NdemicCreations) March 23, 2020

In Plague Inc., players control the spread and evolution of contagion, whether it be viral, bacterial or fungal. The player gets to choose in which country the virus begins, and control how it spreads and how quickly it evolves. The ultimate goal is to infect and kill everyone on the planet. In the case of COVID-19, we want the opposite to happen.

“Eight years ago, I never imagined the real world would come to resemble a game of Plague Inc. or that so many players would be using Plague Inc. to help them get through an actual pandemic,” says James Vaughan, creator of Plague Inc.

The statement also details how players will soon be able to donate to the response fund through the game, and the company is working on another, more socially acceptable game mode.

Stop the spread

Ndemic Creations also announced that it is currently working on a new Plague Inc. game mode which lets players save the world from a deadly disease outbreak.

“Players will have to balance managing disease progression and boosting healthcare systems as well as controlling real-world actions such as triaging, quarantining, social distancing and closing of public services. We are developing this game mode with the help of experts from the World Health Organisation, the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network and more,” the statement reads.

Once the new game mode is available, anyone will be able to download and play it for free during the COVID-19 lockdown. At least we still have games, right?