The announcement of a horror game starring Mickey Mouseoriginally titled ‘Infestation 88‘, gained prominence on social media at the beginning of January, but it didn’t take long for the controversy to take hold.
The studio responsible for the project, Nightmare Forge, announced last Tuesday (2) the name change to ‘Infestation: Origins’, with the aim of avoiding any association with neo-Nazi symbolism related to the number “88”.
The change occurred after the identification, by some players, of the reprehensible meaning of the number “88”, widely used by white supremacist groups for identification, as pointed out by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Eurogamer.
Announcement about name change
In response to the accusations and negative repercussion, Nightmare Forge expressed its lack of knowledge about the symbolism and issued a public apology, explaining that the number was originally chosen for its symmetry and relationship to the game’s plot.
The studio clarified in a statement on social media:
“Our game, ‘Infestation 88’, is set in the 1980s, and the year 1988 was selected simply for its symmetry in the logo design. Unfortunately, we were not aware of the additional meanings of the number 88. After becoming aware of this, we decided to change the name of the game to ‘Infestation: Origins’. We apologize for our ignorance and thank you for alerting us so we could resolve the issue immediately.”
The game ‘Infestation: Origins’ invites up to four players to become exterminators, facing infestations of distorted versions of classic characters and urban legends, including a terrifying depiction of the iconic Mickey Mouse.
The creators emphasize that the game is an independent creation, not authorized, sponsored or endorsed by the original authors of the works that inspired it, making it clear that the version of Mickey is based on the classic 1928 animation Steamboat Willie, which is currently in the public domain.
The release of ‘Infestation 88’, now titled ‘Infestation: Origins’, is scheduled for PC, although the exact date has not yet been announced.
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