In case you haven’t heard it yet: Steamboat Willie The version of Mickey Mouse is officially in the public domain and Nightmare Forge Games wasted no time in announcing a horror game named after this version of Disney’s mascot Infestation 88. However, the team was welcomed at the announcement immediate opposition regarding the title of the game and premise, with people specifically calling it an anti-Semitic dog whistle.
For those who don’t know, “88” is the code for “HH” or “Heil Hitler” within the Nazi movement since H is the eighth letter in the alphabet. The game centers around killing a monster version of Mickey and fighting a plague of rats using gas, and the Nazi movement used rats as a representative of the Jewish people in his propaganda. All of this raised too many red flags, and Infestation 88 Suspicions were immediately raised that what appeared to be a horror game taking advantage of Mickey’s public domain status was actually hiding something much more insidious.
In response to the criticism, Nightmare Forge Games has responded announced It changes the name to Infestation: Originsand claims ignorance of the historical context of his name and images.
Ahead of this announcement, the studio stated: My city The 88 was originally intended to represent the setting of the 1988 game and create a symmetrical design in the logo. The studio’s statement said that “no additional connotations are intended,” but that it is open to changing the name rather than just tweaking the logo, and it looks like it has decided to go in that direction . It is a very serious matter and it is up to each individual whether they are comfortable with these statements, but the entire project and the controversy also draw attention to a common thread that games with classic characters entering the public domain have in common : the opportunistic use of these characters to gain attention for a shallow, schlocky premise.
Steamboat Willie Mickey entered the public domain this year and Winnie-the-Pooh has entered it the year before, and it seems that all anyone is willing to put money on when these things happen is a harrowing, culture-shocking version of these normally wholesome characters in horror stories. If our imaginations stretch so far when it comes to projects like this, what benefit is there in even bringing these characters to the public?
