Mickey Mouse horror game has been renamed

The team behind Mickey Mouse’s public domain horror game is about to change its name, as announced.The original title is infestation88Nightmare Forge Games’ co-op game is now titled Infestation: Origins. This comes after the game received backlash from users and several high-profile outlets including Kotaku and VICE, who pointed out that the game’s original title and premise coincidentally featured a large number of white supremacist and Nazi dog whistles – Have players use poison gas to kill rats in a storage facility.

The developers sent Mashable the following statement about the name change:

“First of all, as we said in the tweet, we are renaming the game to Infestation: Origins. The game takes place in the 1980s, and we originally chose the name “Infestation 88” just because of the symmetrical design/logo in the game art and to represent 1988. Unfortunately, at the time the name was announced, we weren’t aware of any other meaning to the number “88.” Through feedback from the community, we learned that it was, so we changed the name as quickly as possible. We apologize for our ignorance on this topic and thank you for bringing it to our attention so we can resolve this issue. “

You can read our original story about the game’s announcement below:

Now that Disney’s Steamboat Willie has entered the public domain, it no longer matters that Sleeping Dogs lie. It was announced shortly after the clock struck midnight that the iconic mouse would be getting a horror remake in an upcoming movie. infestation88.

However, based on what’s been shown so far, the game looks like one giant troll.

infestation88 is the first game to be released with a new public domain entry. According to the game’s Steam page, infestation88 is a co-op player mascot survival horror game with deadly company, lunch ladyand phobia. The trailer shows this version of Mickey Mouse as a grotesque giant rat haunting a storage facility. This appears to be your standard stalker enemy versus player affair, as you and your friends complete objectives around the map to defeat Mickey.

If you thought this game had a fast release cycle, you’d be right. According to the Steam page, everything from the developers to the game itself appears to be a giant troll taking advantage of the new free public domain characters – similar to how the filmmakers took advantage of the 2023 release of Winnie the Pooh.

The developer is infestation88Nightmare Forge Games describes itself as “a team of industry veterans who have been making horror games exclusively since 2010.” The website’s domain was newly registered on October 2, 2023, according to an ICANN search of the domain.

Additionally, as one Steam user pointed out on the game’s discussion page, the voices used in the trailer are free AI voices from Eleven Labs.You can set up an account at Eleven Labs for free, which is what I did, and yes, the platform’s “Clyde” voice is the same intrusion‘s trailer.

Another Steam user also immediately became suspicious of the game’s name, questioning where the “88” in the title came from. For context, “1488” is a white supremacist dog whistle, shorthand for “14 words” and “Heil Hitler,” where H is the eighth letter of the alphabet.Given that the game is available on Steam as 1-4 Player cooperatives are called intrusion 88and you’ll understand why some might question the developers’ intentions.

Other netizens also pointed out intrusion The game has a “Scrabble score of 14” and the fact that you need to kill rats with poison gas is not subtle. Also, as another user claimed, the game is set in 1988.

In response to these claims, a spokesperson for Nightmare Forge Games told Mashable via email that they used an “advanced version of Elevenlabs AI” “due to time constraints.” They added that this was just a placeholder, with future plans to hire real voice actors.

“Unfortunately, when we announced the game, we were not aware of other meanings associated with the number 88,” a spokesperson told us in response to claims about a potential Nazi dog whistle. “Our game is set in the 1980s, and 1988 was chosen simply because of the symmetrical design in our game art. Therefore, 88 strictly represents 1988; there is no other meaning. We are revising this artwork. To clarify the abbreviation. If you still have doubts , we are willing to change the name of the game.”

The game doesn’t have a release date yet, but the developers say it’s planned for release in 2024.

Updated: January 2, 2024 at 3:43 pm CST This article and title have been updated to reflect the title change from developer Nightmare Forge Games. A statement from the developer regarding the situation has also been added.