There has been increasing tension around the world with the current spread of COVID-19, or more commonly known as the coronavirus.
A recent post from Playstation on their official blog page, they detailed their involvement in participating at the PAX East 2020 game expo, including playable demos of The Last of Us Part 2, Doom Eternal, Iron Man VR, and Nioh 2.
No more than a week later though, Playstation announced that they are choosing to withdraw from PAX East over coronavirus concerns. The official post can be viewed here.
From the Playstation blog post after the update: “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.”
Now, just a few days after the update, news has surfaced that Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has formally requested that Playstation reconsider their withdrawal from the PAX East show in a letter to Kenichiro Yoshida, Sony’s president and chief executive officer.
From Boston News agency WCVB’s post on this story, Mayor Walshs letter said “the risk of contracting the coronavirus in Boston and Massachusetts remains extremely low and that officials have no reason to believe that anyone should cancel their plans to visit the city.”
Being only a week before PAX East 2020, which begins their first day on February 27th, it is uncertain whether Playstation will respond in a positive way that fans will be happy with. We will report back if Playstation changes their mind or responds to Mayor Walsh’s letter!
