This comes just days after the mobile version of the game was taken down from China’s iOS App Store, where it became the most downloaded paid game. The game was released nearly eight years ago, but it saw a resurgence in popularity after the coronavirus outbreak.

Ndemic Creations, the game’s UK-based developer, said last week that it was informed that Plague Inc. includes content deemed illegal by the Cyberspace Administration of China. The studio said its priority was to contact Chinese authorities to try to find a resolution, though it admitted that “the odds are stacked against us.” On Sunday, new regulations published by China’s cyberspace watchdog came into effect, which ban “improper comments on natural disasters and other serious incidents,” among other content.