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Infestation 88 devs address controversy over Neo-Nazi claims (www.pcgamesn.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/games@sh.itjust.works
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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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[–] 121 points 2 years ago (4 children)

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.

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  • [–] 58 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    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!

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  • [–] 12 points 2 years ago*

    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.

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  • [–] [S] 4 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    there are no other dog whistles

    Uh-oh.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago

    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.

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