Plague Inc. has been removed from sale in China at the instructions of the Chinese government, just weeks after the game skyrocketed in popularity in the country following the outbreak of COVID-19 (a.k.a. Coronavirus).

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In a statement on developer Ndemic's website , a spokesperson wrote: "We have some very sad news to share with our China based players. We've just been informed that Plague Inc. “includes content that is illegal in China as determined by the Cyberspace Administration of China” and has been removed from the China App Store. This situation is completely out of our control."It's unclear whether this move has been taken in response to the game's success following the coronavirus outbreak, which originated in China. Ndemic has said it's working to reverse the decision by contacting the Cyberspace Administration of China to understand its reasoning.Previously, Ndemic had released a statement asking players not to rely on the game for information about the spread of coronavirus – although the developer does tout the game's educational value, with the US Centre for Disease Control publicly recognising it. Nothing will change for the game outside of China, but it's a puzzling situation.China is notably restrictive around video games - between 2000 and 2015 there was a ban on the production, import and sale of consoles and arcade machines and, as recently as last year, the country legally banned children from playing games after 10pm , among other provisions.