Sony has canceled its participation of Pax East 2020 just a week before the show kicks off, citing fears over the spread of the Coronavirus COVID-19. The news comes by way of Sony’s content communications manager Justin Massongill, who explained the decision over on the PS Blog earlier today.
Massongill explains that while the company regretted the action but felt it necessary to protect “the health and safety [of its] global workforce” first and foremost.
COVID-19 originated in Wuhan, China, earlier this year and has since spread to become a global health issue. While less deadly on a case-by-case basis than other respiratory diseases in recent years such as SARS, studies suggest it may be more contagious.
While Sony is pulling out, the rest of Pax East 2020 will still proceed as planned.
For those looking forward to going hands-on with the anticipated The Last of Us Part II, which was confirmed as one of the show’s big highlights last week, they’ll be pleased to know the opportunity will still be available.
There are a number of other PlayStation games playable over at the PlayStation experience, too. Massongill reminds attendees of the location and content:
“Want to play The Last of Us Part II? You can! Just stop by booth #10047 to be among the first to go hands-on with Naughty Dog’s masterpiece in the making. You can also experience MediaMolecule’s Dreams at booth #18003, then you can find us at booths #14047 and #12047 to experience other upcoming must-play titles like Marvel’s Iron Man VR, Nioh 2, Doom Eternal, Spelunky 2, and more.”
As Twinfinite reported last week when news of The Last of Us Part II’s playable demo was first announced, its predecessor also shared its first playable demo during Pax East 2013. It’s fitting, then, that the sequel’s first demo will also be at a Pax East event.
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