The recently revealed Mickey Mouse horror game, Infestation 88, is currently experiencing a huge wave of criticism regarding Neo-Nazi symbolism in the original pitch for the game.
After the copyright for the original Mickey Mouse persona, Steamboat Willie, ran out on January 1, the newcomer game studio Nightmare Forge Games announced their upcoming Mickey Mouse horror game. What sounds like a fun premise immediately turned dark, though, as the game was quickly faced with Nazi allegations due to its original title.
Mickey Mouse Horror Game Faces Nazi Allegations
The upcoming Mickey Mouse/Steamboat Willie horror survival game was announced with the name "Infestation '88" on January 1. The developers were immediately confronted with allegations of Nazism, because the number 88 is associated with the eighth letter of the alphabet, which is 'H.' In neo-Nazi and white supremacist circles, "88" is used as a code to represent "HH," which stands for a known Nazi expression and dog whistle, that was used to express support for Adolf Hitler and his ideology.
While the number 88 itself may not be inherently problematic, its association with neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideologies has led to its adoption as a symbol by some individuals and groups with such extremist beliefs.
On social media, several people pointed out that the premise of players having to gas out infestations, paired with the use of "88" in the title and other appearances of the number 14, which is also a far-right dog whistle, have to be seen with caution and sensitivity due to the historical associations of these numbers with Nazi symbolism.
Immediately after the allegations towards Nightmare Forge Games were surfaced, they changed the name from "Infestation '88" to "Infestation Origins".
"Unfortunately, at the time of its announcement, we were unaware of any additional meanings the number ’88’ has.Through feedback from the community, we learned it did, and therefore made this name change ASAP." ~ statement by Nightmare Forge Games
According to Nightmare Forge Games, the number 88 in the title was only chosen to represent the year 1988, in which the game takes place in.
Update: We're changing our game's name to 'Infestation: Origins'. Full statement below. pic.twitter.com/pHSdT83SEm
— Nightmare Forge Games (@NMForgeGames) January 2, 2024