General Gaming Sony cancels PAX East attendance (and first public showing of TLoU 2) due to COVID-19 concerns, update: Capcom and Square Enix cancel as well

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Sony is the only company to pull out so far, cancelling the first public showing for The Last of Us Part 2

Quote

“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,”

 

[DarkStar189]

Any idea what Sony might have brought to PAX?  Is that the type of place they might have unveiled PS5 info? I don't remember what usually goes on at PAX. Health is obviously a concern. Just feels extra weird since they already pulled out of E3. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

1 minute ago, DarkStar189 said:

Any idea what Sony might have brought to PAX?  Is that the type of place they might have unveiled PS5 info? I don't remember what usually goes on at PAX. Health is obviously a concern. Just feels extra weird since they already pulled out of E3. 

See thread title

[Kal-El814]

How on brand would it have been for TLOU to cause a pandemic in Boston? Theme > everything, you cowards.

 

Ahem. Ignore me. 

[TwinIon]

A whole bunch of things in Asia have been canceled or moved, but other than Mobile World Congress (phone trade show in Barcelona with an attendance of ~100k) I haven't heard of much else in Europe or the Americas being canceled because of the virus.

 

According to the CDC, MA does have confirmed cases, but there have only been 15 confirmed cases in the US in total.

 

Sure seems like an overabundance of caution.

[AbsolutSurgen]

[number305]

18 minutes ago, TwinIon said:

A whole bunch of things in Asia have been canceled or moved, but other than Mobile World Congress (phone trade show in Barcelona with an attendance of ~100k) I haven't heard of much else in Europe or the Americas being canceled because of the virus.

 

According to the CDC, MA does have confirmed cases, but there have only been 15 confirmed cases in the US in total.

 

Sure seems like an overabundance of caution.

I don't think it is a great idea to have people from all over the world congregating in one place, then having everyone travel back to their own country right now.

[Keyser_Soze]

I'm gonna stop going to work I might get Covid-19.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Capcom and Square Enix have decided to not attend

Quote

 

Square Enix specifically cited the novel coronavirus as the reason for its absence in an announcement today. The publisher said it would scale back its panel appearances, signing sessions, and fan gatherings as its team coming from the Japan office would no longer be traveling.

 

Capcom said in a tweet that while it would be continuing its planned Monster Hunter: Festa event in Boston during PAX East, the developers from the Monster Hunter team would no longer be attending as originally planned. Capcom did not specify whether or not the cancelation was novel coronavirus-related.

 

 

[Remarkableriots]

[Xbob42]

Damn, if people took the regular ass flu this seriously it wouldn't claim between 300k to 650k lives every year.

[Zaku3]

On 2/19/2020 at 3:22 PM, TwinIon said:

A whole bunch of things in Asia have been canceled or moved, but other than Mobile World Congress (phone trade show in Barcelona with an attendance of ~100k) I haven't heard of much else in Europe or the Americas being canceled because of the virus.

 

According to the CDC, MA does have confirmed cases, but there have only been 15 confirmed cases in the US in total.

 

Sure seems like an overabundance of caution.

 

Seria A games in Northern Italy were canceled. They are expected to be canceled but may be played behind closed doors.

[PaladinSolo]

13 hours ago, Xbob42 said:

Damn, if people took the regular ass flu this seriously it wouldn't claim between 300k to 650k lives every year.

I mean the Flu is significantly less deadly, it has about a .1% mortality rate, whereas this virus is sitting at around 2.3%, if that held up and it reach flu level of infections you'd have a million dead in the US alone.

[Xbob42]

49 minutes ago, PaladinSolo said:

I mean the Flu is significantly less deadly, it has about a .1% mortality rate, whereas this virus is sitting at around 2.3%, if that held up and it reach flu level of infections you'd have a million dead in the US alone.

Right, and that's very bad. But my point is more that "you can still fucking die from the flu, and the statistics of it not being likely to kill you aren't a good shield." In both cases, of course, you're still most likely to die if you're an old fart/tiny baby or have existing health problems, but if people just kept these basic precautions up at all times I think we'd see a lot less annual deaths, which I tend to worry about more than bombastic, generally one-off virus outbreaks.