In a post on the PlayStation blog, Sony announced it has cancelled its plans to attend the upcoming Penny Arcade Expo (PAX East) in Boston next weekend. Citing concerns over the coronavirus, Sony will no longer be showcasing its upcoming titles at the convention.
Here is Sony's statement in full:
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.
Originally Sony was slated to showcase its upcoming line-up of PlayStation titles, including games like The Last of Us II, Persona 5 The Royal, Final Fantasy VII REMAKE and more. This move comes after news broke of a Boston man being found to have the illness after coming back from Wuhan, China.
PAX posted an update on the official PAX website, confirming Sony's decision as well as assuaging fears of those who are still attending the show next week that PAX is taking this seriously.
PAX East 2020 will take place as scheduled with enhanced cleaning and sanitization across theshow, including adhering to the recommendations set forth in the U.S. EPA’s EmergingPathogen Policy regarding cleaning disinfectants effective against the COVID-19 virus. We areworking closely with the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center and following local, stateand federal public health guidelines, including those issued by the CDC. For moreinformation on those measures and the virus, please visit the PAX East travel page and theMCCA website.
While we are saddened that Sony will no longer have a presence at PAX East 2020, we lookforward to welcoming our friends at Sony to future PAX events and are focused on making PAXEast 2020 a successful and enjoyable event for all attendees and exhibitors.
You can read PAX's full statement here.
