Square Enix scales down E3 attendance
Swine flu puts the wind up 'em.
Square Enix has told good old GamesIndustry.bizthat it is only sending a limited number of Japanese staff to E3 in Los Angeles next month, what with all the swine flu.
Other companies such as Capcom and Koei have already announced similar plans. Turns out hundreds of cases of swine flu have now been reported in Japan, prompting the Government to advise citizens to avoid international travel.
"A limited number of executives / employees from Square Enix's headquarters in Japan will be attending E3 this year, given the recent worldwide spread of H1N1 flu," said the company in a statement.
Koei's said something similar to Kotaku, and it turns out Capcom won't be showing Dead Rising 2 at E3 after all. In addition, producer Keiji Inafune declined to turn up at the Nordic Game Conference this week.
E3 organisers the Entertainment Software Association previously said they hoped the swine flu issue would be "a thing of the past" by the time the show rolled around. With just over a week to go, that doesn't look likely. Eurogamer will still be getting on that plane though; we ain't afraid of no swine flu. Also we could do with a few weeks in bed.