Health Concerns for COVID-19, Novel Coronavirus, Keeps Sony Out of Two Big Events
Sony has announced that it will be pulling out of both PAX East and GDC 2020 this year. The proliferation of COVID-19, better known as novel coronavirus is cited as the reason for this decision.
Sony updated their PAX East announcement post from February 13 to inform people of the change in plans.
“UPDATE: 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.”
PAX East is set to start next Thursday, February 27, and finish on Sunday, March 1. The event takes place in Boston, Massachusetts The booths at PAX East were going to have demos for The Last of Us 2 and Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
A statement was sent to games industry.biz to announce the company’s withdrawal from GDC. The statement mirrors the PAX East cancellation word for word.
“We have made the difficult decision to cancel our participation in Game Developers Conference due to increasing concerns related to COVID-19 (also known as coronavirus).”
Sony isn’t the only company withdrawing from GDC 2020. Facebook Gaming/Oculus will no longer be at the event. GDC 2020 is taking place in San Francisco this year from March 16 to March 20. The event brings together game developers from all over the world to share ideas, make big announcements, and build hype for the rest of the year.
The coronavirus continues to interfere with the gaming industry. Console production, live tournaments, game releases, and more, have all been affected by COVID-19.
Sources: Fanbyte, Gamesindustry.biz