With a name like Coronavirus Attack, this Steam game is about as on the nose as it can get. It features some pretty overt political messages too, some more subtle than others. And as you’d expect, the game has found itself banned in China.
The premise of Coronavirus Attack is simple and straightforward. A virus – which turns people into flesh-eating zombies, has infected a country. Carriers of this zombie disease are trying to flee the country. You play as a coronavirus, made in a secret laboratory with the sole purpose of wiping out those infected by the zombie virus trying to escape.
Of course, it doesn’t stop there. In game, the background is red, and the virus you play as is yellow. Coronavirus Attack also comes with achievements like “Taiwan is not China”, “Liberate Hong Kong”, and “Release Xinjiang”.
Abacus reports that developer MythZ says it’s meant as a protest against the Chinese government, and as criticism for those who left Wuham before the city was locked down. And while Coronavirus Attack is still available on Steam outside of China, the dev expects a pushback.
All things considered, it’s not surprising at all that China bans a game like Coronavirus Attack. Plague Inc., a game about spreading diseases, was also removed from the Apple App Store in the country. The game made no specific references to the country, and was the most popular paid app there for a time.
