Nightmare Forge Games has changed the name of Infestation 88 to Infestation: Origins following controversy surrounding the Mickey Mouse game’s use of that Neo-Nazi reference number.
On X, Nightmare Forge Games posted a statement saying the game’s title was originally a reference to the game taking place in 1988 “due to [the number’s] symmetrical design in the game’s artwork/logo.” They claim to have not been aware of any other meanings behind the number and have changed it. They then thank readers for bringing their attention to the matter.
Infestation: Origins is a co-op horror game in which players are stalked and attacked by a character who looks exactly like Mickey Mouse as he appeared in the Steamboat Willie short film in 1928. If you’ve been wondering why you’ve seen a sudden influx in Mickey Mouse-inspired content, that’s because the version of the character in that movie entered the public domain at the start of 2024. Many versions of Mickey Mouse still remain under copyright, though, so don’t start just trying to sell your own t-shirts quite yet.
In response, a number of different project featuring rip-off versions of Mickey Mouse have been announced, giving him a similar treatment to what Winnie the Pooh got in 2022. Horror has often been one of the places these beloved children’s characters are most likely to pop up.
88 as a symbol is listed by the Anti-Defamation League as a white supremacist code meant to stand for “Heil Hitler.” Along with the number 14, it’s a fairly common dog whistle, which is a type of coded language used to signal support for something without explicitly saying you support it. 88 specifically refers to the fact that H is the 8th letter of the alphabet, and thus 88 is HH, like Heil Hitler.
There’s no evidence at the time of this article’s writing that the reference was intentional.
