Sony Interactive Entertainment have announced a delay in two of their largest upcoming titles, The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Head of Worldwide Studios Hermen Hulst took to the PlayStation Blog to explain the delays. “As our teams at Sony Interactive Entertainment and Worldwide Studios approach development milestones and confront a world changed by COVID-19,” Hulst explains, “we find ourselves having to adapt to today’s ever-changing environment.”
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic (also known as COVID-19 officially, or Chinese Flu to others) has affected many worldwide, from businesses to public gatherings and events. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7].
This includes the postponement of GDC, and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, along with the cancellation of E3 2020 (including digital events), the physical event for Gamescom 2020, and Comiket 98.
We also reported on a Game Freak employee contracting the virus, along with EMS and Airmail shipments from Japan to the US ceasing– starting today. An employee of Sony Interactive Entertainment in Tokyo also contracted the virus.
The Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering are mapping the virus’ spread [1, 2]. As of this time of writing, there have been over 2.735 million total confirmed cases worldwide, and over 2.995 million active cases. There have been over 207,000 deaths, however over 876,000 people have made a “total recovery.”
Hulst also stated PlayStation had begun “to see an ease in the global distribution environment.” In at least one way, it appears people are beginning to cope with the virus.
While Ghost of Tsushima was originally slated for June 26th, The Last of Us Part II had already been delayed due to the pandemic to an undisclosed date. This was made worse by reports of the game’s scenes leaking onto the internet both after the delay was announced, and recently. We shall not be linking to those spoilers.
The Last of Us Part II launches June 19th on PlayStation 4.
Ghost of Tsushima launches July 17th on PlayStation 4.
