Infestation 88 devs address controversy over Neo-Nazi claims

stopthatgirl7@kbin.social to Games@sh.itjust.works – 106 points –
pcgamesn.com

Infestation 88 developer, Nightmare Forge Games, have responded to claims that the '88' in the game's title refers to the Neo-Nazi salute.

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I can see the devs having no clue about the alternative meaning, but a game about gassing rodents called "Infestation 88" is a terrible look. I'm glad the devs changed the name right away.

Yea, if they say "we didnt know what that insinuated", and there are no other dog whistles, I'm happy that they responded so well and quickly!

I think just changing it to "Infestation 1988" would have also been enough...

Though, "infestation 88" a game about killing nazis, would also work!

They could even keep Mickey. Just give him a narrow mustache and a Nazi uniform like you see in Indiana Jones movies and they're good to go.

Except, I'm guessing Infestation '88 is about being hunted by Mickey, so maybe they should change that too.

there are no other dog whistles

Uh-oh.

Relevant reply from the developer. I'll transcribe it here.

@everyone // Our game "Infestation 88" is set in the 1980s, with the year 1988 chosen simply due to its symmetrical design in the game's artwork/logo. Unfortunately, we were unaware of any additional meaning the number '88' has. However, after learning about this, we're changing the game's name to "Infestation: Origins" We apologize for our ignorance on the and appreciate that this was brought to our attention so we could address it ASAP!

With respect to our Discord server, we also apologize for the current lack of moderation in place, and will be working on remedying this ASAP. As per the rules, any hateful speech or content in any regard will result in a ban. We also plan to update our FAQ soon when we have a chance to address common questions that pop up. We greatly appreciate your patience and support!

@here Due to the overwhelming number of posts and rule-breaking content, we're temporarily pausing discussion until we have better moderation in place. We hope to have things back online soon! Thank you again for your patience.

... Those aren't the devs or discord mods, they're literally random people that just joined their server.

🤦

IDK, what else do you do with rodents in a game? Set traps? Shoot with guns?

I'm guessing the devs were born in 1988 or thereabouts and wanted to set the game in their birth year or something like that. Or they picked a number that's somewhat long ago but not too long, and ~35 years ago is something I'd probably come up with (it's not a neat number like 25 and 50), it's far enough back that it's old, but recent enough to feel familiar.

Occam's razor: they're probably not Nazis or Nazi sympathizers. I had never heard of the meaning behind "88" (granted, I'm not that interested in neo-Nazi symbolism), and I was born near 1988. Maybe I'd change the name, IDK, even hearing the arguments here I really don't see an actual connection so it's really no big deal to me. Then again, I think it's a stupid name regardless, so I probably would've been more clever.