Sony Withdraws from PAX East Due to Coronavirus Concerns

Sony Withdraws from PAX East Due to Coronavirus Concerns

Better safe than sick.

pocru by pocru on Feb 20, 2020 @ 02:01 AM (Staff Bios)
Comment(s)
In more “the world is slowly ending” news, PlayStation just announced that they’re going to pull out of this year’s PAX East. I’ll let you take three guesses as to why:

Today, Sony Interactive Entertainment made the decision to cancel its participation at PAX East in Boston this year due to increasing concerns related to COVID-19 (also known as “novel coronavirus”). We felt this was the safest option as the situation is changing daily. We are disappointed to cancel our participation in this event, but the health and safety of our global workforce is our highest concern.


This year, Sony’s booth was supposed to showcase The Last of Us 2, the Final Fantasy VII remake, Doom Eternal, Nioh 2, and more. However, with the news that the virus has managed to reach Boston two weeks ago, the site of this year’s PAX East, Sony made the decision – a not unfair but perhaps slightly alarmist decision – to pull out.

Kyle Marsden-Kish, the show’s event director, made this comment:

“While we are saddened that Sony will no longer have a presence at PAX East 2020, we look forward to welcoming our friends at Sony to future PAX events and are focused on making PAX East 2020 a successful and enjoyable event for all attendees and exhibitors. PAX East 2020 will take place as scheduled with enhanced cleaning and sanitization across the show, including adhering to the recommendations set forth in the U.S. EPA’s Emerging Pathogen Policy regarding cleaning disinfectants effective against the COVID-19 virus.”


Part of me wondered if Sony was just looking for an excuse to pull out, but it’s not as if PAX East is under any scrutiny, or the games they wanted to show off are at risk of being bad. So I guess it really just stemmed from concern for employee health. Which is nice.

Comments

Comment on this Article in our Forum

More GamerzUnite News

Are We Being Controlled in a PC Game by Aliens?

Are We Being Controlled in a PC Game by Aliens?

New UFO Film proposes we might!

February 19 @ 02:23 PM
Explore an Eerie Archipelago in Dredge

Explore an Eerie Archipelago in Dredge

A fishing adventure gone bad...

February 11 @ 03:07 PM
Automation Goes Too Far in The Last Worker

Automation Goes Too Far in The Last Worker

A bleak future for anyone looking for a job...

September 2 @ 01:11 AM
Alien Infestation takes over in From Space

Alien Infestation takes over in From Space

Liberate the Earth in this fun new action-shooter...

August 27 @ 09:50 PM
August 27 @ 09:14 PM
Join GamerzUnite and Unite with other Gamerz.
A Piece of Our Mind

Every Single Detail We Found in the Starfield Gameplay Reveal

Video Games Shouldn't Need Wiki Pages

PopSlinger Review: It Goes Down Rough, Really Rough

Halo: Infinite Highlights Everything Wrong with Gaming Today

Echo Generation Review: Not Exactly a Blockbuster