Sony Cancels PAX East Participation Over Coronavirus Concerns

Sony has decided to cancel its planned participation in this year's Pax East, which is one of the largest video game conventions in the U.S. The tech giant said its decision is due to the current spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.

“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”),” the company said in an update to a blog entry.

“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,” it added.

Sony previously teased about its participation in Pax East, The Verge reported. The game company was supposed to present a slew of titles during four days, from Feb. 27 through March 1, all day from 10:00 a.m. thru 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

The company planned to bring some of the biggest and most anticipated titles to the convention, including Naughty Dog's “The Last of us Part II” which was supposed to be available to all interested gamers via Pax East booth #10047. Other titles such as “Final Fantasy VII Remake,” “Trials of Mana” and a VR game called “The Room VR: A Dark Matter” were also included in the list.

The game company was also slated to bring a host of new and interesting titles to the convention, had it not canceled its plans. Booth #18003, for example, was the location for MediaMolecule's “Dreams” while booths #12047 and #14047 were prepared for titles like “Doom Eternal,” “Marvel's Iron Man VR,” “Nioh 2” and “Spelunky 2.”

Here's the complete list of games Sony planned to present at Pax East 2020:

• “Below”
• “Cloudpunk”
• “Doom Eternal”
• “Dreams”
• “Final Fantasy VII Remake”
• “Genshin Impact”
• “Gorn” (PS VR)
• “Haven”
• “The Last of Us Part II”
• “Marvel’s Iron Man VR” (PS VR)
• “MLB The Show 20”
• “Mosaic”
• “Moving Out”
• “Nioh 2”
• “One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows”
• “Paper Beast” (PS VR)
• “Persona 5 Royal”
• “Pixel Ripped 1995”
• “Predator: Hunting Grounds”
• “Remnant: From the Ashes”
• “The Room VR: A Dark Matter” (PS VR)
• “Space Channel 5” (PS VR)
• “Spelunky 2”
• “Trials of Mana”
• “Zombie Army 4”