PAX East 2020 has officially started, but the gaming event has suffered three huge blows as CD Project, thatgamecompany and PUGB Corp has reportedly decided to skip the event due to Coronavirus’ concerns.
CD Project’s Community Manager Stephanie Bayer shared the news recently, she confirms that the developer should be present at GDC 2020.
“I just found out my team is cancelling our PAX East trip so I will NOT be at PAX East as previously planned.”
Due to COVID-19 concerns, we’ve made the difficult decision to no longer attend PAX East. As a small international team, we want to put the health of our team first & take every precaution to avoid risk. Thanks for your understanding & we hope to meet everyone at later events! pic.twitter.com/XCkYnXBhaC
— thatgamecompany (@thatgamecompany) February 26, 2020
Sony was the first to take the decision to not attend the event in Boston, Square Enix followed with a similar statement, but the developer will have a booth to present new information for Final Fantasy XIV
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.” Said Justin Massongill
Since our team will not be in attendance, we are planning to scale down on our planned activities for FINAL FANTASY XIV:
“As the community may be aware, COVID-19 (also known as ‘novel coronavirus’) is spreading within the East Asia region,” the company said on the official Final Fantasy 14 website.
Square Enix will still host the FINAL FANTASY XIV booth on the show floor (#15010), and we hope you’ll take part and enjoy the Ruby Weapon battle challenge, the New Player Experience, and photo opportunities.
This difficult decision was based on our desire to prevent any potential spread of the virus and to prioritize the health and safety of our team and our fans.”
Other developers like THQ Nordic, XSEED Games, Focus Home Interactive among others had confirmed their assistance, one of the most expected reveals at the event is the gameplay reveal of Baldur’s Gate III from Larian Studios.
Source: MCVUK
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