Square Enix Scales Back Final Fantasy 14 PAX East Plans Over Coronavirus

Square Enix has announced it is scaling back some of its plans for PAX East later this month due to ongoing concerns about the coronavirus. In a blog post, the publisher said the Final Fantasy XIV Online developers who planned to travel from the team’s HQ in Japan will now stay home.

“Sadly Square Enix has decided to cancel the PAX East attendance of staff who would be travelling from the Japan offices,” the company said in a statement. “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.”

Because the development team won’t be attending PAX East, Square Enix is scaling back its events surrounding Final Fantasy XIV. Specifically, Square Enix is cancelling the “A Look Behind the Screen” panel. But it’s not all bad news, as the team will conduct a livestream featuring the developers in place of this. The developer signings and photo opportunities will of course no longer go foward, while the fan gathering event slated for February 28 has also been scrapped.

While the Final Fantasy XIV events have been scaled back, Square Enix is still coming to PAX East with a lot to show and discuss. There will be a playable demo for the Final Fantasy VII Remake, a panel discussion for the new third-person shooter Outriders from the developers of Gears of War Judgment, and more. Check out Square Enix’s blog post to see a full rundown of its PAX East plans.

In other news, Sony has dropped out over coronavirus concerns, meaning that the planned playable demo stations for The Last of Us Part II will not be there. The Mayor of Boston has urged Sony to come back to PAX, but with the show beginning this week, that seems very unlikely.

PAX East runs February 27-March 1 in Boston, Massachusetts.