Plague Inc: Evolved's DLC, The Cure, is free "until COVID-19 is under control"
"The Cure is an engaging and timely simulation of a global disease response."
Plague Inc: Evolved DLC The Cure is available on Steam for free from now "until COVID-19 is under control".
The previously-announced free DLC - which is out now and requires base game Plague Inc: Evolved - tasks players to "take control and stop a deadly global pandemic by any means necessary. Allocate resources to boost testing capacity, make facemasks compulsory, lock down countries or investigate experimental treatments in Plague Inc.'s biggest expansion ever!"
It's a switch from the game's base game that introduces several new game mechanics to help the player end the spread of disease, not aid it.
"Created with the help of world health experts from all over the world including the WHO, CEPI and GOARN, Plague Inc: The Cure is an engaging and timely simulation of a global disease response," the Steam store description says.
The eight-year-old Plague Inc., developed by UK studio Ndemic Creations, is a real-time strategy simulation in which the player creates and evolves a pathogen in an effort to destroy the world with a deadly plague. It became so popular, so quickly, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that its creators had to add a disclaimer to remind players that it was not a "scientific model".
"Please remember that Plague Inc. is a game, not a scientific model and that the Coronavirus is a very real situation which is impacting a huge number of people," the developer said at the time.