CEPI welcomes launch of new Plague Inc. game to show the world how to stop the next pandemic
11 November 2020, Oslo, Norway — The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has today welcomed the launch of new mobile game Plague Inc: The Cure, by developer Ndemic Creations, which puts players in control of a global pandemic response.
An expansion for the global hit Plague Inc.—which has 160 million players worldwide—Ndemic's latest foray into the world of high-strategy simulation, is part game, part pandemic simulation, allowing players to activate a range of tools and resources with the aim to minimise the spread of a disease and save the world from a deadly pathogenic threat.
With scientific input from world-leading infectious disease experts, including CEPI, Plague Inc: The Cure has been created to show one of the most detailed and interactive representations of a pandemic, which highlights the complexities of mounting a global response while balancing social, economic, and global health factors. The game also demonstrates the need to consider key aspects such as speed of operation, the connected world, national versus international responses, and the importance of public trust, which can all play into how quickly and effectively the world responds to an infectious disease outbreak.
From contact tracing to vaccine development and manufacturing, Plague Inc: The Cure encapsulates the complexities of a global pandemic response and highlights how crucial international collaboration is needed to address such a threat.
Games like Plague Inc: The Cure represent an incredibly important medium for education and public awareness that can be used to show the world the steps needed to address similar global health threats and their associated complexities.
We are delighted that Ndemic Creations have taken the initiative to raise awareness of both the tools–like vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics–needed and the challenges that must be overcome to rapidly and effectively respond to outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases.
It was extremely challenging to fit such a complex topic into a game but the input that experts from CEPI and elsewhere provided has been invaluable in ensuring that Plague Inc: The Cure is both educational and engaging.
Plague Inc: The Cure lets players explore the issues that humanity faces when trying to stop a global pandemic and I'm proud that our game can help raise awareness of the vital work that CEPI is doing for us all behind the scenes.
On behalf of all players of Plague Inc., Ndemic Creations made several donations in March this year, including US $125,000 to support CEPI's efforts to expedite the development of vaccines against its priority diseases with epidemic potential. The investment will also help advance innovative platform technologies, for rapid vaccine development against unknown pathogens, which are already in use to develop vaccine candidates against COVID-19.
Plague Inc: The Cure is now available as an expansion for the game Plague Inc. It can be downloaded from the App store and Google Play. It will be available on Steam soon.
Plague Inc: The Cure will be free for all Plague Inc. players until COVID-19 is under control.
You can follow the conversation about the game on social media using #PlagueInc
Learn more about CEPI's response to COVID-19 and other emerging disease threats: www.cepi.net/plagueinc
-ENDS-
Notes to Editors
Media Assets
Images, graphics, and video footage of the new Plague Inc. The Cure game are available here.
About Plague Inc. and Plague Inc: The Cure
Launched in 2012, the original Plague Inc. game enabled players to create and evolve a pathogen in an effort to bring about an end to human history. Since its initial development, Plague Inc. has expanded across multiple formats and platforms. It now has over 160 million players around the world, making it one of the top five most successful paid mobile games. A board game is also available.
Plague Inc: The Cure is a major expansion for Plague Inc. which reverses the original game and lets players save the world from a deadly pandemic. Created with the help of world health experts from all over the world including the WHO, CEPI, and GOARN, it is an engaging and timely simulation of a global disease response.
While scientific input was garnered from CEPI and other infectious disease experts, it is worth highlighting that Plague Inc: The Cure does not provide 100% accurate or realistic scenarios to the steps needed to be taken to end a pandemic threat, and the speed and scale at which they can be achieved. It is a game, not a scientific simulation.
About Ndemic Creations
Ndemic Creations is a leading, independent game studio dedicated to making intelligent, sophisticated and high-quality strategy games. Based in Bristol, UK, Ndemic achieved extreme success with its first game, Plague Inc. — a global hit with over 160 million players which is one of the top five most successful paid mobile games ever. Ndemic's latest game is Rebel Inc., a political/military simulation inspired by events in Afghanistan
See more on www.ndemiccreations.com. Follow us on twitter twitter.com/NdemicCreations for the latest updates.
About CEPI
CEPI is an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil organisations, launched at Davos in 2017, to develop vaccines to stop future epidemics. CEPI has moved with great urgency and in coordination with WHO in response to the emergence of COVID-19. CEPI has initiated nine partnerships to develop vaccines against COVID-19. The programmes are leveraging rapid response platforms already supported by CEPI as well as new partnerships.
Before the emergence of COVID-19, CEPI's priority diseases included Ebola virus, Lassa virus, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, Nipah virus, Rift Valley Fever and Chikungunya virus. CEPI also invested in platform technologies that can be used for rapid vaccine and immunoprophylactic development against unknown pathogens (Disease X).
An additional US $800m is needed to support CEPI's COVID-19 programmes. For investor enquiries, please email [email protected].
See more on www.cepi.net. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest updates.
Media Contacts
CEPI
Email: [email protected] |Phone: +44 7387 055214
Ndemic Creations
Email: [email protected]
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