author: Bart Swiatek
PAX East 2020: Square Enix and Capcom Change Plans Due to Coronavirus
The Japanese companies Square Enix and Capcom have announced a reduction in their presence at the PAX East 2020 trade event due to the COVID-19 coronavirus.
IN A NUTSHELL:
- Square Enix and Capcom have limited their presence at PAX East 2020;
- The cause is the COVID-19 coronavirus;
- Square Enix resigned from photo shoot, meeting with fans and a panel devoted to FFXIV;
- Capcom will not send the devs of Monster Hunter: World to the event.
Japanese companies Square Enix and Capcom have decided to limit their presence at the PAX East 2020 trade fair, which will start in two days in Boston. The former informed about the decision in a special communication and the latter in a post published on Twitter. The reason is the threat from the COVID-19 coronavirus (Square Enix mentions it in a linked note and one can guess that it also influenced Capcom's decision).
Square Enix cancelled the panel related to Final Fantasy XIV, as well as the photo shoot and the meeting with fans - the team that was supposed to participate in them will not come to the event. Capcom, on the other hand, hasn't completely withdrawn from its planned activities, but will limit the presence of its developers on PAX East - the developers responsible for Monster Hunter: World RPG will not come to the fair.
It is worth noting that Sony informed earlier about its resignation from the event. Similar decisions are also made in connection with another industry event, the Game Developers Conference (GDC - to be held in San Francisco on March 16-20). Facebook, Sony and Kojima Productions, among others, have withdrawn from participation. In turn, MWC 2020 (Mobile World Congress) will not be held at all.
As you can see, the coronavirus has a very noticeable impact on the industry, but in this situation, the decisions made by companies are completely understandable - it is good that employees' health is a priority for them. It remains to be hoped that the disease will not contribute to delaying important launches, and that the threat can be contained. So far, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of over 2.7 thousand people. Over 80,000 have been infected around the world.