Fans were excited to hear that The Last of Us Part II and Final Fantasy VII remake were making special appearances during PAX East this year, though unfortunately there has been a change of plans. With the death toll rising due to the spread of the Coronavirus and much of PlayStation’s team traveling internationally, the company has concluded that the travel would pose too much of a risk for their team and opted to put their safety first.
In an update to their original blog post boasting their PAX East lineup, Sony issued the following statement:
“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.”
While the news would bum anyone out, it’s good to see the company taking whatever measures they see fit to make sure that their people are taken care in terms of safety. While in the US it hasn’t been as big of an issue with isolated breakouts that were caught in time, that doesn’t stop the fact that internationally the death toll is staggering and when traveling internationally, that exposure increases exponentially.
As for PAX East, sans PlayStation, the celebration begins on February 28th in Boston.
