Continued and mounting concerns over the spread of COVID-19 AKA Wuhan coronavirus have led to even more event and appearance cancellations today. Two more major gaming companies have pulled out of PAX East today, joining the likes of Kojima Productions, who have also decided not to head to GDC 2020 over these problems with the actively spreading disease.
According to this new announcement, both CD Projekt Red and PUBG Corp have pulled out of public appearance commitments relating to GDC and PAX East conventions in 2020. “I just found out my team is canceling our PAX East trip so I will NOT be at PAX East as previously planned,” wrote CD Projekt Red’s North American head of communications, Stephanie Bayer.
Gamespot has also confirmed that PUBG Corp has canceled its PAX East and GDC 2020 commitments alongside these other companies. Previous delays and cancellations today even included Paramount delaying the Chinese debut of the Sonic the Hedgehog film.
Other major companies have pulled out of various events over these concerns. Just for PAX East, Sony, Square Enix and Capcom have all remarked on plans not to risk the health of their staff by being involved in public conventions for now. And even though, as we pointed out previously today, the spread of coronavirus won’t be slowing anytime soon. And the general scientific consensus is that the viral infection will increase in severity to the point where it could reach critical mass and become a permanent fixture in human existence. After all, the Wuhan variant is remarkably similar to the likes of cold and flu viruses, and some researches fear that COVID-19 could become as common as those other similar viral pests.
This won’t come to pass for some time if it does at all, but the idea that you can just wait it out could have serious economic and social implications.
