Boston mayor formally asks Sony to reconsider pulling out of PAX East gaming showcase

Deleted member 388 · Feb 22, 2020

Boston mayor formally asks Sony to reconsider pulling out of PAX East

Mayor Marty Walsh sent a letter to Sony's president and CEO after the entertainment giant pulled out of the gaming showcase over coronavirus concerns.

www.wcvb.com

In his letter, Walsh said the risk of contracting the coronavirus in Boston and Massachusetts remains extremely low and that officials have no reason to believe that anyone should cancel their plans to visit the city.

The mayor also said that fears about the coronavirus are fueled by confusion and lack of information, which has led to the growth of anti-Chinese and anti-Asian sentiment in Boston and around the country.

"These fears reinforce harmful stereotypes that generations of Asians have worked hard to dismantle," reads Walsh's letter. "They trigger our worst impulses: to view entire groups of people with suspicion, to close ourselves off, and to miss out on the opportunities and connections our global city provides. Boston is united in our efforts to dispel these harmful and misguided fears."

Even the mayor is thirsty for Last of Us 2

Deleted member 46948 · Feb 22, 2020

The mayor is thirsty to be the last of us.

Jean Valjean · Feb 22, 2020

Edit: oops, sorry!

Alexandros · Feb 22, 2020

What's his Era username? All joking aside though, he makes an interesting point.

Border · Feb 22, 2020

"As a leader in technology, you can show that you are motivated by facts, not fear. As a leader in gaming and culture, you can show that you believe in connection, not isolation."

The mayor's right, but what can you really do? I suspect Sony has already cancelled their hotels and plane tickets.

I wouldn't have expected local politicians to get involved in this, so it's kind of nice to see them concerned with the health of big gaming conventions.

FantasticMrFoxdie · Feb 22, 2020

/shrug

If I were mayor...

I would do the same for TLOU2

Meg Cherry · Feb 22, 2020

It is kinda fascinating to see Sony be one of the first movers on actively cancelling public events due to coronavirus fears. Especially since Facebook & Square Enix seemed to follow their lead so soon after.

Lant_War · Feb 22, 2020

"In his letter, Walsh said the risk of contracting the coronavirus in Boston and Massachusetts remains extremely low and that officials have no reason to believe that anyone should cancel their plans to visit the city. "

The problem is not the city. The problem is that it's an international event. Same reason why they pulled out of GDC

PlanetSmasher · Feb 22, 2020

Boston and the surrounding area DOES have a fairly substantial Asian population, so I can at least understand his mindset behind this - the constant OMG CORONAVIRUS fearmongering has been leading to a TON of anti-Asian sentiment and Boston will probably be hit pretty hard by that, especially in the greater metropolitan area where a huge chunk of the population comes from East Asia.

Hell, the part of the city I used to live in back in the day had such a huge Asian population that the Dalai Lama once visited the temple down the street from my house and waved to me as I drove past him on my way to work.

I don't think this kind of plea will change Sony's mind, since it seems to be a company-wide mandate, but at least we're seeing people pointing out that this kind of activity, while certainly well-intentioned and not irrational on Sony's part, contributes to a culture of fear that may ignite xenophobia among some.

Deleted member 388 · Feb 22, 2020

Border said:
I wouldn't have expected local politicians to get involved in this, so it's kind of nice to see them concerned with the health of big gaming conventions.

Pax probably generates a lot of revenue for the city, in the same way San Diego will never let comic con leave.

Nabs · Feb 22, 2020

PAX East is going to be packed with people traveling from all over the world. You can start a cluster of infected in no time. I don't like that he's trying to paint it as something else. It has nothing to do with the city of Boston.

Dust · Feb 22, 2020

Sony seems firm on this, so I doubt this will have any effect.

Video Games Are Dumb · Feb 22, 2020

"Sony, freaking come on, bro! You gotta!"

Puffy · Feb 22, 2020

Kinda strawmanning there

MinerArcaniner · Feb 22, 2020

"These fears reinforce harmful stereotypes that generations of Asians have worked hard to dismantle," reads Walsh's letter. "They trigger our worst impulses: to view entire groups of people with suspicion, to close ourselves off, and to miss out on the opportunities and connections our global city provides. Boston is united in our efforts to dispel these harmful and misguided fears."

"Not boosting our local economy is racist"

Katana_Strikes · Feb 22, 2020

That thirst for PS5 info spilling into politics now.

Hybrid Rainbow · Feb 22, 2020

Action Burger said:
Pax probably generates a lot of revenue for the city, in the same way San Diego will never let comic con leave.

One and done. When the anime convention Otakon decided to pull out of Baltimore after years of residency due to the Baltimore Convention Center undergoing renovations, the Mayor and Tourism committee begged and pleaded them not to leave and tried their best to placate them to no avail. These kinds of events bring literal millions of dollars to the local economy from visitors and I can imagine one of the big players pulling out of PAX could start a chain reaction and make others not come. I do find the mayor of Boston being a little disingenuous though trying to make that connection of Sony not coming feeding into racist viewpoints. That's a stretch and a half.

Mbolibombo · Feb 22, 2020

Mushroomer25 said:
It is kinda fascinating to see Sony be one of the first movers on actively cancelling public events due to coronavirus fears. Especially since Facebook & Square Enix seemed to follow their lead so soon after.

Square Cancelled their appearance as well?

grand · Feb 22, 2020

gigantor21 said:
"Not boosting our local economy is racist"

No, this is an actual thing. The sales of Chinese food and restaurants have plummeted in the last month

Lulu · Feb 22, 2020

Man is thirsty for that PS5 drop

rochellepaws · Feb 22, 2020

I'm surprised and disappointed how connected to race the discussion around the virus appears to be in the US but I certainly don't think anyone in a position of influence should be encouraging people or companies to avoid precautions or ignore medical advice when it comes to containing it. Especially if they were planning to bring people from Japan where the spread is a lot more severe.

Sony are doing right by their staff here and should be applauded for it, people come before business events.

Meg Cherry · Feb 22, 2020

Mbolibombo said:
Square Cancelled their appearance as well?

They scaled down their FFXIV presence, and cancelled a panel.

Facebook only pulled out of GDC.

Border · Feb 22, 2020

Action Burger said:
Pax probably generates a lot of revenue for the city, in the same way San Diego will never let comic con leave.

Oh yeah, this is totally about the health and welfare of local businesses -- as well as the health of PAX East, which seems to be struggling to sell tickets this year. Though admittedly they probably over-extended themselves by expanding the show to 4 days, and made matters worse by scheduling the show in what is essentially the dead of Boston's winter season.

Mbolibombo · Feb 22, 2020

Hybrid Rainbow said:
One and done. When the anime convention Otakon decided to pull out of Baltimore after years of residency due to the Baltimore Convention Center undergoing renovations, the Mayor and Tourism committee begged and pleaded them not to leave and tried their best to placate them to no avail. These kinds of events bring literal millions of dollars to the local economy from visitors and I can imagine one of the big players pulling out of PAX could start a chain reaction and make others not come. I do find the mayor of Boston being a little disingenuous though trying to make that connection of Sony not coming feeding into racist viewpoints. That's a stretch and a half.

Is it disingenious though? Because it's certainly a thing.. If anything, having the city being known as no-go by a massive corp like Sony is probably more damaging than whatever dollars Sonys apperance would bring.

Rizific · Feb 22, 2020

OK what's his Era account name?

ItIsOkBro · Feb 22, 2020

someone from canada got the coronavirus after only travelling to iran. the risk of contracting the coronavirus in Boston and Massachusetts may remains extremely low but i think it's in everyone's best interests to limit international travel to huge events so it doesn't spread.

Yunyo · Feb 22, 2020

Huh, that's surprising to see.

I agree it's a business move, trying to stave off any other cancellations.

Border said:
Oh yeah, this is totally about the health and welfare of local businesses -- as well as the health of PAX East, which seems to be struggling to sell tickets this year. Though admittedly they probably over-extended themselves by expanding the show to 4 days, and made matters worse by scheduling the show in what is essentially the dead of Boston's winter season.

I think it's also the price increases, tickets have increased in price every year. It's hard to believe I bought a 3-day pass for $95 in 2013. If you keep raising the price people are gonna focus on the "most important" days, which are Friday and Saturday.

Jade1962 · Feb 22, 2020

grandjedi said:
No, this is an actual thing. The sales of Chinese food and restaurants have plummeted in the last month

All which began before Sony pulled out of PAX. The problem are the xenophobes and racist. No one ever wants to address them though.

Border said:
Oh yeah, this is totally about the health and welfare of local businesses -- as well as the health of PAX East, which seems to be struggling to sell tickets this year. Though admittedly they probably over-extended themselves by expanding the show to 4 days, and made matters worse by scheduling the show in what is essentially the dead of Boston's winter season.

Winter has been mild here. It will be in the 50's next week.

Hybrid Rainbow · Feb 22, 2020

Mbolibombo said:
Is it disingenious though? Because it's certainly a thing.. If anything, having the city being known as no-go by a massive corp like Sony is probably more damaging than whatever dollars Sonys apperance would bring.

Oh, it's pretty disingenuous. Boston has been know as a pretty racist city even before the Coronavirus started. Trying to equate Sony's non-appearance to stoking racial stereotyping is ridiculous point blank.

Scottoest · Feb 22, 2020

Mbolibombo said:
Is it disingenious though? Because it's certainly a thing.. If anything, having the city being known as no-go by a massive corp like Sony is probably more damaging than whatever dollars Sonys apperance would bring.

It has nothing to do with the city. These are events that people come from all over the world to attend, and hence there's a potentially increased risk. Same with GDC. Same potentially with E3 itself, if the outbreak isn't considered mostly contained by then.

Lots of people, clustered close together. All it takes is one person. I don't blame Sony for not wanting to risk it. Plus, these aren't exactly high-stakes events for them from a business perspective.

RoaminRonin · Feb 22, 2020

Scottoest said:
It has nothing to do with the city. These are events that people come from all over the world to attend, and hence there's a potentially increased risk. Same with GDC. Same potentially with E3 itself, if the outbreak isn't considered mostly contained by then.

Lots of people, clustered close together. All it takes is one person.

Just like that woman that infected a hundred+ people at a church in S.Korea.

Deleted member 1003 · Feb 22, 2020

COVID-19 is a global issue any large concentrations of people from all around the world is obviously at risk for further infection.

Not saying that it will happen or that the companies still attending are being reckless, just saying I can understand why Sony pulled out of MWC, PAX and GDC.

Deleted member 16876 · Feb 22, 2020

The thing is that this event will be international. That means people from Europe, Asia, Africa and everywhere will be there. It is very easy to have people who might not know they have the virus visit the event and infect people furthur.

The people who are being racist to asian people are idiots and will still be idiots wether the event is a thing or not. These are people that stop going to american rasturants cause they might be from chinese/any asian country even though the rasturants are basically american but with minorities running them (who might not have stepped into their ancestor's country even).

Border · Feb 22, 2020

Jade1962 said:
Winter has been mild here. It will be in the 50's next week.

If you're from out of town though you have to make plans to attend far in advance......a fair number of people probably just saw the dates months ago and thought "Nah, I don't think Boston in February is a very good idea." I know I certainly did. Previous shows have been at the end of March, or well into April and it was still pretty cold out.

Le Dude · Feb 22, 2020

I mean, yeah it's an international event as people are saying, but there's already travel restrictions and screening in place to prevent the spread from international travel. It's not perfect, but it's been doing a pretty good job so far. I said before that I think Sony was making a poor decision for dropping out and I stand by that. I've personally seen fear-mongering surrounding the virus at the hospital where I work, including from the nursing manager on one floor. There's no reason to cause extra unnecessary panic.

est1992 · Feb 22, 2020

I'm honestly surprised other companies haven't done the same. The potential health risk is not good.

Joni · Feb 22, 2020

Mbolibombo said:
Is it disingenious though? Because it's certainly a thing.. If anything, having the city being known as no-go by a massive corp like Sony is probably more damaging than whatever dollars Sonys apperance would bring.

But Sony isn't explicitly targetting the city, it is cancelling its attendance to all major events. And we have seen some events like the global mobile congress completely cancelled to limit risks.

Wolf · Feb 22, 2020

Not happening. PAX east is in a week.

Syriel · Feb 22, 2020

Border said:
"As a leader in technology, you can show that you are motivated by facts, not fear. As a leader in gaming and culture, you can show that you believe in connection, not isolation."

The mayor's right, but what can you really do? I suspect Sony has already cancelled their hotels and plane tickets.

I wouldn't have expected local politicians to get involved in this, so it's kind of nice to see them concerned with the health of big gaming conventions.

Large events are big business. As is the news of a major company considering a city a covid risk.

hyouko · Feb 22, 2020

Bostonian here. I think Mayor Walsh is well-intentioned but off base. As he says, there's not much risk of contracting the virus from people living in Boston, but with people coming in from all over, and with Sony being based in Japan (which is currently at a level 2 health alert with the CDC), I can understand them not wanting to:

expose their employees to possible infection from traveling attendees, which could spread internally and disrupt their business at a critical time, or
expose attendees to people from their own Japan-based team who are unknowingly infected already, which could be really bad PR and spread the contagion unpredictably.

That's consistent with their GDC withdrawal too, and from personal experience I know a lot of companies are being cautious about non-essential international travel right now.

SolidSnakex · Feb 22, 2020

Mbolibombo said:
Is it disingenious though? Because it's certainly a thing.. If anything, having the city being known as no-go by a massive corp like Sony is probably more damaging than whatever dollars Sonys apperance would bring.

Sony have canceled events in Barcelona, Boston and San Francisco over fears of the coronavirus. This thing is no longer restricted to China like it was a few weeks ago. The CDC has just put South Korea and Japan under a Level 2 travel advisory. Iran and Italy are now continually reporting new numbers. Yesterday Iran only had two deaths, today it's up to 6.

RingRang · Feb 22, 2020

damn

The mayor is basically calling them out for being irrationally fearful of the virus.

SpottieO · Feb 22, 2020

Load of bullshit from the mayor considering Sony is an international company and their employees would be going through airports all over the world.

chrominance · Feb 22, 2020

Mobile World Congress was supposed to be in Barcelona. It wasn't cancelled because people were afraid to go to Barcelona specifically.

Marty Walsh is, at best, an idiot, and at worst, disingenuous.

Mbolibombo · Feb 22, 2020

Scottoest said:
It has nothing to do with the city. These are events that people come from all over the world to attend, and hence there's a potentially increased risk. Same with GDC. Same potentially with E3 itself, if the outbreak isn't considered mostly contained by then.

Lots of people, clustered close together. All it takes is one person. I don't blame Sony for not wanting to risk it. Plus, these aren't exactly high-stakes events for them from a business perspective.

Joni said:
But Sony isn't explicitly targetting the city, it is cancelling its attendance to all major events. And we have seen some events like the global mobile congress completely cancelled to limit risks.

SolidSnakex said:
Sony have canceled events in Barcelona, Boston and San Francisco over fears of the coronavirus. This thing is no longer restricted to China like it was a few weeks ago. The CDC has just put South Korea and Japan under a Level 2 travel advisory. Iran and Italy are now continually reporting new numbers. Yesterday Iran only had two deaths, today it's up to 6.

I guess I wasnt very clear what I wanted to say. Sorry

Sony is in their full right to cancel all their events, and I fully respect that.

I was refering to the initial post in the quote chain that the mayor was doing this due to the revenue Boston City would lose due to Sony not going to the event. From the mayors perspective something like Boston being associated with the with COVID-19 virus would be more harming to the city than whatever revenue they would have lost for Sony not attending. I doubt the mayor didnt even consider that Sony cancelled other events.

TheGhost · Feb 22, 2020

He doesn't want them doing this because it will incite more of a paranoia and also it makes Boston look like a compromised series.

LordDraven · Feb 22, 2020

Claven said:
The mayor is thirsty to be the last of us.

Lol

DeadmansTheory · Feb 22, 2020

Mayor wants that sweet PS5 reveal...

Warukyure · Feb 22, 2020

I think there was an article about MWC in Barcelona getting cancelled means they are potentially out $500 million. So if more companies start to bail out there would massive losses not just in the venue itself but hotels, restaurants and transportation.

Hieroph · Feb 22, 2020

SpottieO said:
Load of bullshit from the mayor considering Sony is an international company and their employees would be going through airports all over the world.

Yeah. Pretty sure Sony is already disappointed that they have to do this, and they're not making these decisions lightly.

Boston mayor formally asks Sony to reconsider pulling out of PAX East gaming showcase

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