Plague Inc. dev teams up with the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation

The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation and Ndemic Creations, the developer of Plague Inc., are teaming up to promote Global Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Day Sept. 7.

Plague Inc. is a mobile game that tasks players with creating a pandemic so deadly that it wipes out humanity. Beginning in early September, an in-game news item will invite players to learn more about Pulmonary Fibrosis.

"Working together, we have created an in-game news item that will inform players about the Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness day and direct them to a website for more information," a post on Ndemic's website reads. "This will be seen an estimated 9.8 million times in just two weeks — raising crucial awareness of this lung disease that has limited treatment options, no known cure, and kills someone every 13 minutes in the U.S. alone."

Plague Inc. creator James Vaughan told the organization behind Global Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Day that he is "Honored and proud that Plague Inc. is in a position where it has the potential to help raise awareness of pulmonary fibrosis. It's still hard to believe that a game that I made as a hobby is now able to engage and educate millions of people about important health issues (despite its dark premise!)."

Vaughan studied economics in college and also told Polygon in a March interview that he developed Plague Inc. "as a hobby." Beyond his involvement with Global Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Day, his hobby lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to invite him to speak at the organization.

Plague Inc. is available on Android and iOS.