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PlayStation will skip PAX East due to coronavirus concerns

The coronavirus epidemic continues to affect various corners of gaming, with PlayStation now backing out of its PAX East appearance and taking games like Last of Us Part 2 with it due to concerns over the virus.

Ozzie Mejia

February 19, 2020 11:05 AM

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The folks at PlayStation had planned an extensive presence at this year's PAX East. Unfortuntaely, it looks like that will no longer happen. With just weeks before doors open for the show, Sony Interactive Entertainment issued a statement that it would be canceling all plans for the annual event, citing concerns over the COVID-19 coronavirus.

"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")," reads the statement on PlayStation.Blog. "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."

PlayStation had previously planned to show off over two dozen titles, including Final Fantasy VII Remake, MLB The Show 20, Predator: Hunting Grounds, Spelunky 2, and Marvel's Iron Man VR. It was also set to be one of the lone opportunities for the average consumer to try out The Last of Us Part 2 prior to the game's May 29 release.

With no further consumer shows on the horizon, it looks like everyone will simply have to wait for those aforementioned games to hit the shelves before they get their hands on them. The PlayStation group is becoming increasingly removed from major conventions, announcing last month that it would once again skip E3 and focus more on a different direction.

The growing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has been having a bigger effect on the gaming world since its outbreak. Various esports events, such as the Overwatch League and competitive League of Legends have had to move away from China due to concerns and the affected area is only growing. On Tuesday, Blizzard also announced that the Hearthstone Masters Tour that was planned for Indonesia would be moved to Los Angeles over concerns of COVID-19.

The ultimate effect of COVID-19 and how many areas of gaming it stands to impact remain to be seen. We will continue to monitor this story as it develops.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?