PlayStation cancels PAX East plans due to coronavirus scare

Last week, PlayStation announced they’ll be attending PAX East this month with the first public demo of The Last of Us Part 2. Unfortunately, that will no longer be the case.

Sony announced today that they have canceled their PAX East plans to protect their employees from a coronavirus scare. You can read the statement below.

“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.”

The coronavirus has struck fear in many who travel over the past couple of months. The virus’s origin began in China and given Sony is a Japanese company, it’s possible that this request came from the executives over in Asia. The current death toll for the coronavirus is over 2,000 but many are being advised to be vigilant when traveling or in highly-populated areas.

There’s no word as to if PlayStation will bring The Last of Us Part 2 to another public convention anytime soon. The original plan was to bring an hour of the game to PAX East, letting players play an early part of the story with Ellie and Dina.

The Last of Us Part 2 will launch exclusively on PlayStation 4 on May 29th, 2019.