Infestation 88 / Infestation: Origins

About

Infestation 88 or Infestation: Origins is an episodic, four-player co-op survival horror game produced by Nightmare Forge Games that uses the now-public-domain Steamboat Willie Mickey Mouse design as a monster chasing players. The game is listed on Steam for a 2024 early-access release.

History

On January 1st, 2024, Nightmare Forge Games studio released the first trailer of their upcoming co-op survival horror game Infestation 88,^[2] which was posted on YouTube^[1] by IGN (shown below), amassing over 1.2 million views and 19,000 likes in four days.

The game's premise uses Steamboat Willie Mickey Mouse design as a monster set in the year 1988, and players are going to have to deal with an outbreak of rats in various locations.

Infestation 88 Neo-Nazi Ideology Controversy

A day after the game's announcement, Nightmare Forge Games changed the name of the game from Infestation 88 to Infestation: Origins_ after blowback over its references to Neo-Nazi ideology. X^[3] user @AnoriandGD (shown below, left) pointed out on January 2nd, 2024 that the number 88 in the game title "is an immediate red flag, as are the facts that they use the word Infestation, they use rat-based imagery, it involves gassing them and counting the space 'Infestation 88' is 14 keystrokes," he says. The tweet amassed over 7,600 likes and 1,400 retweets in three days. The studio posted a statement on X^[4] on the same day (shown below, right) saying they were "unaware of any additional meaning the number '88' has" and that their intention was chosen "simply due to symmetrical design in the game's artwork/logo." The post received roughly 145 likes and 55 retweets in three days.

Online Reactions

The controversy surrounding the game's title became a trending topic on X. For instance, on January 2nd, 2024, X^[5] user @SYACVG explained why the game is now called Insfestation: Origin (shown below, left), which garnered more than 2,700 likes and 174 retweets in three days. On the same day, X^[6] user posted a Greater Than meme stating that The Lego Movie is better than Infestation: Origin game (shown below, right). The tweet received roughly 150 likes and 21 retweets in three days.

Search Interest

External References