Sony pulled out of E3 2020 and now it’s pulling out of PAX East. However, the company cited a different reason for pulling out of PAX East: the coronavirus. Sony won’t be at the show in any capacity, meaning players won’t be able to go hands-on with The Last of Us 2 and the rest of the games that were scheduled to be at Sony’s booth.
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The electronics giant tweeted out simple update tweet on its PlayStation Blog post on its proposed PAX East lineup.
“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”),” read the post. “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.”
Sony’s appropriate care for safety means that attendees will miss out on the first ever hands-on demo of The Last of Us 2. This means they will likely have to wait until the game comes out on May 29 to play it. Naughty Dog tweeted about its absence, saying it was “really looking forward to meeting you and seeing your reactions to the demo” before saying we would see more of the game before launch.
Iron Man VR, Dreams, and more were also ready to show up at Sony’s booth, but those have been playable at other public events in the past or, in Dreams‘ case, are already out. It’s difficult to tell exactly which games from Sony’s list won’t be at the show at all, given how the some games might be at other booths. For example, the PlayStation Blog post cites Final Fantasy 7 Remake as one of the PlayStation games that’ll be at the show, but it will almost assuredly be at Square Enix’s booth.
PAX East takes place in Boston, Massachusetts, a state that has only one confirmed case of the coronavirus. However, Sony is likely more afraid of people possibly bringing in the virus from other places, given how people travel from all over the world to get there. The odds of catching the virus there are incredibly low, but, in Sony’s eyes, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
