PolitiFact.com
Viral Facebook post: Microsoft and Bill Gates created a 1999 video game called “Omikron.”
PolitiFact's ruling: False
Here's why: Ever since it was discovered, people have continued to use the new COVID-19 omicron variant to make false claims about the pandemic. Some claimed its name was evidence that the whole thing was planned, while others spread a photoshopped poster for a non-existent film called "The Omicron Variant."
Now, social media posts claim that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates created a video game named — you guessed it — "Omikron" back in 1999.
"DID YOU KNOW?" text on a Facebook post graphic asks. "Omikron was the name of a 1999 video game by Microsoft and Bill Gates about demons pretending to be humans and harvesting their souls." One video circulating online fuels conspiracy theories further as it shows the game’s anti-government plot featuring a digitally illustrated David Bowie-like character.
The game is real and was available to play on Microsoft Windows computers in November 1999, but it wasn’t developed by Microsoft or Gates.
Fact-check:Are migrants being tested for COVID-19 at southern border?
The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed.
"Omikron: The Nomad Soul" was created by Quantic Dream, a French developer based in Paris founded by a man named David Cage. Bowie made the music for the game, and the game features a character who shares Bowie’s voice and appearance.
It...
CLEVELAND — United States Attorney David Toepfer announced that a dentist in Cuyahoga County has agreed to a settlement that will cost $500,000 for false Medicaid claims. The settlement is part of...