PlayStation Cancels Huge PAX East Showing Due to Coronavirus Concerns

@sabaki08 Yeah, it all makes sense now. They're secretly bought by Microsoft and they're cancelling all PlayStation events to make them look bad, just so the PS5 fails. This is the end of Knack.

Overall this is a smart move. I can imagine the amount of personnel Playstation would be bringing in from many different regions and I certainly wouldnt want my Company sending me out where I could potentially be exposed to the virus. It sucks but better safe than Quarantined.

While it may be disappointing to some people, with something like the coronavirus being such a concern around the world, I can't really blame Sony for pulling out of the event with concern surrounding their workers.

Seems like an overreaction. As far as I’m aware there is no person-to-person transmission within the US. They should’ve just reduced the scale not bringing people not based in the US.

Do not underestimate the power of Pla- erm, Coronavirus.

@Octane I think they canceled b/c Knack 3 wasn't ready to be shown yet.

Can't blame them for this. Imagine they fly a bunch of employees here from Japan then after they get here all flights from the US to Japan get suspended like the China flights and they can't get back.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/31/business/china-flights-suspended.html

Oh no! I think safety is important, but this coronavirus is getting out of control. China needs to do something to get it under control.

Not surprised. If the situation isn't brought under control soon I wouldn't even be surprised to see PAX East or E3 getting entirely postponed or cancelled outright.

@Akurusu Like locking down 500 million people and crippling the functioning of their economy in order to prevent the continued spread of the virus?

At this point, it's an international effort to slow the spread of the virus before it becomes a devastating pandemic.

I'm surprised that they completely canceled it. A smaller showing with less games wouldn't have phased me, but this caught me off guard. Like all the comments above, better this than getting deathly ill.
I'm now wondering what the show floor will look like. Even on an off year, Sony takes up a considerable amount of space. Will it be just more walking room (which would be welcome) or will another exhibitor swoop in?

Makes sense. More public events are going to follow suit. It only takes one person to be infected, and the consequences could be disastrous.

If Sony were smart they'd offer a state of play instead to show off some of the games that were going to get demo'd at PAX. And release that FF7 demo to the public!

On State of Play, if Nintendo can hold specific directs for titles like Animal Crossing and Smash, then sony should do similar for titles like Dreams aswell. Id tune in to a media molecule masterclass on how to build levels , or to show off community creations.

Stop eating bats, China!

I know TLoU is the biggest game hence the article image...but I find it hilarious that you used it in a coronavirus article lol

Anyway in a situation like this I ain't even mad! Just do a PS direct and show us something!

@Neolit If those numbers are correct, than that's a mortality rate of 0.05% for the seasonal flu. Whereas COVID-19 has a mortality rate of 1.17%. That's nearly 25 times more lethal actually.

I've seen a number of comments (not on this site, but elsewhere), people saying that it's because Sony isnt ready to show off the ps5. I'm sorry but Sony was NEVER going to show off the ps5 at Pax east.

E3's back on boys!

@torne not surprised, there are a lot of people using this to attack/troll sony, you know the usual stuff.

Anyone using the corona virus as a way to promote the console war is a straight up loser, seen quite a few of the usual xbox die hard fans using this as a way to take shots, quite pathetic.

@CmShepard People are actually doing that? That’s so effed up. I would say more but I think this site has a thing against profanity.

I heard they're waiting for xbox to announce so they can copy theirs as all they currently have is a raspberry pi in a black shoe box.... sneaky sneaky sony

@Akurusu There was one guy on twitter named MadzGaming, known xbox fanboy. You see his xbox followers backing him up laughing about it as well.

I had a feeling that China is not letting the world know the truth. Latest was 2000 deaths, but some believe China is forging the numbers and it's a lot worse than it is.
The governments are hiding the truth.

Lame excuse, all other companies at pax east also live on planet earth. Sony is apparently too cheap now to show up at any event now.

-sigh- safety first I know. But sony's continued unwillingness to show/communicate is getting on my nerves. 2020 sucks.

@Neolit I'm inclined to agree with you. But the fact is that I'd you get Coronavirus you will be quarantined for at least 2wks. So from that perspective it's more of a threat than influenza. No one is being quarantined for having the common cold.

@Neolit
Exactly what I was thinking. When you look at the symptoms, it does seem very similar like a bad cold or minor flu. Also, it reads that the virus can be more severe for some persons and can lead to pneumonia or breathing difficulties. More rarely, the disease can be fatal. Older people, and people with pre-existing medical conditions (such as, diabetes and heart disease) appear to be more vulnerable to becoming severely ill with the virus.

Seems to me that it isn't that dangerous at all. For flu small infants and elderly people are more likely to be floored by it but people with regular immune systems don't even have to worry about it being fatal.

And then you see all these safety precautions in China. A bit excessive imo....

@3Above
Yes, but why do people get quarantined for 2 weeks? It isn't normal to take those kinda measures if you look what the virus actually does. Like a said, it's only a heavy cold or minor flu.

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Edit: I get the feeling that this virus is a perfect excuse for Sony to postpone PS5 reveal because of other reasons, like pricing and waiting game with Series X

@Aexurion "Seems to me that it isn't that dangerous at all"
Are you really this stupid?
And if you really think this was a excuse to delay PS5 news then you really are as dumb as you sound.

Safety come first I guess, I hope sony still showing their games previews trailer on youtube.

@CmShepard Yeah I see few of them on playstation twitter, good thing twitter has block feature. It's pathetic really.

@AFCC That's actually a really good idea, with games list like sony pax, they can do a really good playstation state of play.

These people who think it's just people overreacting really angers me.

COVID-19 is a serious health concern for our planet, and humanity as a whole. Yes, right now the mortality rate is low, but the more it spreads the more chance it has of mutating into something far more deadly, and a pandemic on our hands, with a deadly mutagen is a recipe for mass deaths, into tens of millions.

Safety first, always, ignore the whiners.

Safety first but this is an American event and PlayStation is basically an American business at this point. You're telling me it couldn't have just sent a few of its California execs to the show? I think there's more to it than Coronavirus but obviously we can only go by what they make public. I'm not mad, just disappointed. Of course, an unexpected State of Play with some PS5 news would easily make up for this. But right now I feel like there's more positivity surrounding Xbox because at least its communicating. Sony has said squat and I'm really starting to question if Jim Ryan is worth a damn as a leader of a business.

Its good to be cautious and to protect both empliyees and the public. Best way forward is to have timed demos put on PS4. Everyone can stay safe and we all get to see/ play the demos.

@Gamer83 I'm not quite sure you're grasping the concept there. Sony weren't thinking of their staff taking the virus to the event. 🤣 They're worried that someone infected will visit the event and pass it on to their staff. Those Californian execs aren't immune if someone who's infected decides sneeze their way around the event.

The whole point is to reduce international travel and having mass meetings of people from over the globe is the perfect spreading place. Two of the confirmed UK outbreaks were caught at intl conventions. I think we will see a lot more of this from companies this half of the year.

As for the whole mortality rate, yes it is only a little bit worse than flu but the numbers are still staggering if you look at a global scale. If you imagine that 50% of the world population caught the infection (estimates range on this, with some as high as 60%) you are looking at millions of deaths. This is on top of the huge social, healthcare and economic impacts.

@Rob_230 Nintendo are well ahead of the curve in this respect and show off their games far better than anyone else at the moment, with something like Dreams that really could have benefitted from something like this.

As for Pax it seems a bit odd to cancel, I doubt anyone else will and whilst of course safety should always come first, I do feel in this day and age it wouldn't have been that hard to have developers appear on screen if necessary. This topped up with a few studio heads from America or European countries that are virtually unaffected.

@Rudy_Manchego that's the thing though that mortality rate will likely go down significantly. At the moment that is purely based upon confirmed cases and there are likely thousands who simply haven't sought medical attention as to them it's just a bit of a cold. When H1N1 was at this stage it had a similar rate but they later realised that for every case they diagnosed there was 100 people who didn't seek medical attention in the first place. Even now with coronavirus the vast majority of deaths are in the 70+ age range and many of them had pre existing conditions, plus outside the Wuhan province the mortality rate is 0.4% and if you look at people under 50 it's even lower.

I agree it should always be safety first and by all means reduce travel overseas from affected areas, but I still feel it would have been relatively easy to attend in some capacity

@Eldritch
If that's the case the event as a whole might as well be canceled then. It's just surprising that so far it's only Sony (that I know of) that's doing this. Again, not saying the Coronavirus isn't a concern but it's not exactly an epidemic here in the U.S. And given the way Sony has pretty much shut down communication with gamers on the whole this just seems like another convenient excuse to skip another important event. It's getting a bit frustrating.

@Gamer83 There are other events that Sony has pulled from, that have nothing to do with PlayStation, along with many other companies. In some cases the events were eventually cancelled. These events draw big crowds from all around the world. Not just Americans attend and it only takes one infected person. Just look at the cruise ships where one infected person got on and infected huge amounts of people. Since China is still not being entirely truthful with statistics it's understandable companies don't want to endanger their employees. Especially if said employees could then turn around and sue them for putting them at risk. Because one thing's for sure, America may not be a hotbed for the virus but it sure is for litigation.

@Eldritch
Well, you're definitely right about the last part, people will take you to court at the drop of a hat in this country but I still feel like this is a bit of an overreaction. I get that people go to these shows from all over the world, that's part of the deal and certainly nobody wants to get sick but the only way to ensure that doesn't happen is live in a bubble your whole life. Again, though, I get why Sony's doing this, it's just frustrating because basically since the end of 2017 communication has been completely shut down, when you're the leader of the industry that shouldn't be the case and it has never been the case with Sony whether it was dominating in the PS1 and 2 eras or playing catch up for the early part of the PS3-X360 generation.

To be fair, Sony did have big plans here and there's no doubt this wasn't an easy conclusion to come to, so it's possible they cancelled and are right now coming up with an idea for a different way to get demos for these games out to the public. Not getting my hopes up but maybe an unexpected State of Play and a few demos on the PS Store to follow? That'd actually be better than what the Pax East plans were, builds more hype and most importantly everybody stays safe.

@carlos82 If its nothing why does China have a lockdown? Spraying the streets to disinfect them.

@CmShepard
I dont think they are 'fanboys' and I dont like this stupid word but I think a lot of these PC tech guys are Ms fanatics. At least 'fanatic' is respectful of their age. Better off muting them than getting dumber trying to follow their logic . I definitely muted that Madz guy and a few others Even when people arent completely biased, PC guys generally are more biased towards Ms without even sometimes knowing it. It's quite obvious.
This is a serious problem and indeed pathetic to use it as console war ammunition or to take shots at Sony.

@Flaming_Kaiser I'm not saying its nothing but all the evidence points it being no worse than flu, even out of those that have died the overwhelming majority were in their late 70's and 80's with existing health issues. At the moment they have to determine how dangerous it is and how quickly and easily it can spread between humans as it originated in an some kind of animal. However outside of that province the mortality rate is just 0.4% and that's not taking into account however many people who may be infected but don't seek medical attention

@carlos82 Im not really sure the Chinese arent really open. And do you want to risk a mutation when it spreads like a wildfire. If it wasnt a big thing the Chinese would have never gone in a lockdown.

@Aexurion @Neolit Yeah I am beginning to think so too. It's a good way to delay the stream of information about PS5 but still have an excuse to hide behind. I think that the global reaction to this virus has already delayed both consoles and MS and Sony dont want to be the 1st one to admit it so they are waiting to see who blinks first.

@carlos82 I agree that mortality rate isn't everything and we can only base it on the figures we have which may not paint the whole picture. Of course, mortality rate is also affected by quality of healthcare whereby currently in most countries, the small amount of cases mean care is better than the struggling Chinese hospitals can give. Or we can put our tin foil hats on and say the death rate is possibly higher in China and we are all doomed. Or semi doomed!

Either way, from Sony's perpsective, an outbreak at this stage in their offices etc. would mean a huge loss of output at a critical time for the company. In my work, I have had to put in work from home procedures and sets of steps in case we get hit my mass absences if this does the rounds here. All costs money!

So are we ignoring that Sony pay for the booth, i don't know how much it cost to rent a booth, and because of this virus they waste money for protecting their employees health which is great.
Also i don't get why everyone say they use this to not talk about ps5 when the event was only about ps4 games coming this year.

@Neolit The problem with Corona and the other so called novel viruses is that, as they are new, we have no inbuilt immunity. So the results can very easily mirror the effects Flu had on native american populations. It is in no way similar to Flu which we have 10s of thousands of years of inherent immunity. It is looking like a fatality rate between 1.5 and 2 percent when every infected person has intensive medical care. If infection rates increase medical facilitates will be over run and fatality rates will rapidly increase. China would not shut down its whole economy based on rumour or panic, their actions are based on science and are totally appropriate to the risk. Hopefully this blows over like SARS but just because we may dodge the bullet does not mean bullets are make believe.

The event is in Boston. We have very few cases in the USA. I don't get it.

@3Above
Exactly! The virus isn't the actual reason for the delay but pretty convenient given the circumstances.

@Neolit
Good point! As @TooBarFoo said, inherent immunity is a factor as well. It surely would explain the hefty precautions China's taking. Even still, stuff regarding this virus is blown out of proportion.

@CmShepard
Thanks for warm compliment and constructive feedback!! Things I said have to be read in perspective but given the little tantrum you had I guess it takes awhile to catch on.