The creators of Plague, Inc. have announced they are working on a new mode for the pandemic strategy sim "which lets players save the world from a deadly disease outbreak." The mode is being developed "with the help of experts from the World Health Organisation, the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network and more."

The new mode will be free for all players, though a release date hasn't yet been announced.

As we noted back in January, the spread of coronavirus sparked a renewed interest in Plague, Inc. which saw record-high numbers of concurrent players on Steam. At the time, the developers warned that Plague, Inc. was not a scientific model, though it was designed to be as realistic and informative as possible.

The makers of Plague, Inc. have also made a generous $250,000 donation to aid in the fight against coronavirus, Ndemic Creations announced yesterday. The donation is being split between two organizations: CEPI, the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and the World Health Organisation’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

"Eight years ago, I never imagined the real world would come to resemble a game of Plague Inc. or that so many players would be using Plague Inc. to help them get through an actual pandemic," said creator James Vaughan. "We are proud to be able to help support the vital work of the WHO and CEPI as they work towards finding a vaccine for COVID-19."

CEPI is "a global alliance financing and coordinating the development of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases." The WHO's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund is attempting to raise $675 million to fund the Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to track the coronavirus, buy and ship protective gear for medical workers, and accelerate efforts to develop tests and vaccines.