The developers behind Infestation 88, a new Mickey Mouse horror game announced shortly after the character entered the public domain, are responding to claims that it contains Neo-Nazi references and other problematic content.
In separate interviews with Motherboard and Kotaku, the developers at Nightmare Forge Games, who declined to reveal their identities, claimed that the references to "88" — a common Neo-Nazi dogwhistle — was unintentional. The developers also responded to claims of asset flipping and AI-generated voices, which have been in the news recently amid controversies like The Day Before.
"Our game is set in the 1980s, with the year 1988 being chosen simply for its symmetrical design in our game’s artwork,” a developer spokesperson told Kotaku. “Therefore, the 88 strictly represents the year 1988; no additional connotations are intended. We are in the process of revising this artwork to clarify the abbreviation, as shown in the image below. Should there still be concerns, we’re open to changing the game’s name."
The numbers "14" and "88" are commonly used as code by Neo-Nazis to signify their ideology. The "8" stands for the eighth letter in the alphabet, making it "HH," a historic Nazi salute. The pairing with the name "Infestation" was enough to raise eyebrows in some circles, though there's currently no concrete evidence that the dev team actually harbors Neo-Nazi sympathies. In an apparent response to the accusations making the rounds on social media, the name is now being stylized as "Infestation '88."
In addition to questions about the name, Infestation 88 appears to make use of preexisting assets acquired from the Unity Store. In its story, Motherboard pointed to the similarities of enemies in Infestation 88 to WereRats in places like the Unity Store. The trailer voice-over also appears to be generated through ElevenLabs' AI-driven text-to-speech service, with the text block being just short enough to be free.
Nightmare Forge Games didn't deny using purchased assets or AI, but claimed there is a "lot of work" going into the project. "Given this was an initial announcement trailer, and due to time constraints, we did utilize a premium version of Elevenlabs AI as a placeholder until we hire real voice actors for the actual in-game voice narrations," a spokesperson said.
First announced on January 1, Infestation 88 is a 1-4 player survival horror co-op game that purports to be in the vein of Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. It's not the only project to follow from Steamboat Willie entering the public domain, with an untitled horror movie also being in development. Infestation 88 caught attention on social media soon after it was announced due to the 88 references and gassing being a prominent game mechanic.
Infestation 88's announcement also arrives amid increased scrutiny of so-called shovelware games designed to turn a quick profit with relatively low overhead. The Day Before is a particularly prominent version of this practice, generating substantial hype before going offline just days after release.
Infestation 88 does not have a firm release date, but is slated to launch into early access sometime in 2024.
Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
