Yesterday, we reported on an upcoming Mickey Mouse horror game, and today we’re informing you that the same game has changed its name due to Nazi connotations.
Originally titled Infestation 88, the devs, Nightmare Forge Games, has since announced the game has been renamed Infestation: Origins. What was originally a group of devs getting in quick to make a fast buck off of Steamboat Willie becoming public domain, has since become a story around all the secret signifiers of Nazi references within the game’s trailer.
Have you watched the Infestation: Origins trailer yet? What did you spot, if anything?
As far as the devs are concerned, theirs is an honest mistake, with their statement reading: “Unfortunately, when announcing the game, we were unaware of the additional implications associated with the number 88. Our game is set in the 1980s, with the year 1988 being chosen simply for its symmetrical design in our game's artwork.”
For those of you who don’t understand the implications of “88”, the Anti-Defamation League can clear that up, by explaining that 88 is often used as a "white supremacist numerical code" used to say “Heil Hitler” without it being obvious.
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What is more, the number 14, which also appears a lot in the Disney-inspired trailer, is also said to be used to symbolise neo-Nazi sentiment and support, with some internet sleuths going so far as to claim the Nightmare Forge team’s Discord mods are "out/proud neo-Nazis", though there seems little proof of that.
Once you start going down the rabbit hole that Steam's Infestation: Origins has revealed, it’s all too easy to see secret codes where there aren’t any. This could genuinely be a mistake made by the devs to not realisation the connotations of its name – weirder things have happened, and so we approach any claims about the devs with extreme caution.
Despite its name change, the Mickey Mouse horror is said to still launch later in 2024, meaning we can all see soon enough how innocent (or not) the game’s so-called hidden agenda really is.