Swine Flu: Square and Koei studios rule out E3 attendance

The Japanese offices of two major publishers have prohibited staff from attending E3 in June – due to fears over swine flu.

Develop understands that Square Enix has cancelled plans for its Kingdom Hearts team to attend the show, whilst Koei has confirmed that an unspecified number of its Japanese employees will not be travelling to the event in Los Angeles.

Both will still have a strong turnout at E3, however, with European and American staff present – alongside a reduced number of representatives from Japan.

Nintendo and Sony have also confirmed that neither will be limiting their turnout due to Swine Flu concerns.

The news follows Capcom’s decision to review the number of Japanese employees it will send out to E3, as the growing number of Swine Flu cases saw famed Capcom producer Keiji Inafune cancel his appearance at the Nordic Game expo in Malmo, Sweden.