The PS5 event, which was originally scheduled for Thursday, June 4, is being postponed to the civil unrest in the US over the killing of George Floyd.
Sony has postponed its PlayStation 5 event that was supposed to happen on June 4 due to the ongoing protests in the US. In a statement posted on Facebook, Sony said the PS5 event is being postponed to “allow more important voices to be heard.” Sony has not yet announced a new date for when the event is scheduled.
Here’s the full message posted by Sony on Facebook:
The decision to postpone the PS5 event is in response to the nationwide protests happening in the US over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Floyd, 46, an unarmed black man, died last Monday after a white police officer knelt on his neck as he pleaded “I can’t breathe”, resulting in widespread protests over police brutality. Majors of major cities, be it Los Angeles to Atlanta, imposed curfews in an effort to maintain stability and peace.
The Japanese tech giant had been planning to show off new games for the PlayStation 5 in an hour-long presentation on Thursday. The PlayStation 5 is Sony’s next-generation console, which will succeed the PlayStation 4. The PS5 is aimed at Microsoft’s Xbox Series X. Both consoles are set to hit retail shelves later this year.
Sony’s decision to postpone its the PS5 announcement event follows a similar move by Google to delay an online event for the next version of Android. The event was meant to showcase Android 11 and the rumoured Pixel 4a. The company took to Twitter to announce that now wasn’t the time to celebrate the launch of the new version of the Android operating system, likely in response to the civil unrest in the US.
Google usually holds its annual I/O event in May which was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, which was where the company was supposed to announce Android 11. Similarly, EA announced that it is delaying the virtual launch of its Madden NFL 21.