We’re barely one week into 2024, and Steamboat Willie projects are being announced almost daily. Disney lost copyright protection on “Steamboat Willie” on January 1, 2024, and publishers and studios are rushing to capitalize on “the mouse” going into public domain.

One such project was the horror video game Infestation: 88, which we covered here.

The game recently underwent a name change to “Infestation: Origins” due to backlash over its original title. The controversy primarily centered around the number “88” in the game’s name, which is recognized as a symbol often used by hate groups, particularly neo-Nazis, as a shorthand for “Heil Hitler” (H being the 8th letter of the alphabet).

NEW: @thewillarowe asks the anonymous developers of upcoming Mickey Mouse horror game 'Infestation 88' if they are neo-Nazis. They replied, "No, we are not." More here:https://t.co/Gmg9qFA6U4

— Shannon Liao (@Shannon_Liao) January 2, 2024

This association led to concerns about the name potentially serving as a ‘dog whistle’ to such groups. The game developers, Nightmare Forge Games, responded to the criticism by changing the name to “Infestation: Origins.” They claimed that their choice of the number “88” was purely for aesthetic reasons and stated their ignorance of its historical and cultural connotations.

“Unfortunately, when announcing the game, we were unaware of the additional implications associated with the number 88. Our game is set in the 1980s, with the year 1988 being chosen simply for its symmetrical design in our game’s artwork.”

Despite their claim, Nightmare Forge Games continues to endure stupidity on Twitter from users even claiming that the number 14 (the number of developers on the team) is also a dog whistle.

You can’t make everyone happy. At least they haven’t gotten sued by Disney… yet.

[hat tip: The Messenger]