Facebook and Sony have announced that they will not be attending the 2020 Game Developers Conference due to concerns over the coronavirus outbreak. GDC 2020 is scheduled to take place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco from March 16-20, with thousands of attendees representing every aspect of the video game.
Facebook and its virtual reality subsidiary Oculus had planned to sponsor many events and groups during the conference and try to schedule online to compensate for cancellations.
“Out of concern for the health and safety of our employees, partners, and the GDC community, we will not be participating in this year's Game Developers Conference due to the evolving public health risks related to COVID-19,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement.
"But we will make the exciting announcements we had planned via video, online, Q&A, and many other ways."
Facebook recently announced that it will cancel its Global Marketing Summit due to concerns about the coronavirus. The event was scheduled for March 9-12 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
A Sony spokesperson said the company was prioritizing safety concerns as countries enacted travel restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The company had previously announced it would not participate in PAX East, a Boston-based gaming event setto run from February 27 to March 1, over similar fears.
"We have made the difficult decision to cancel our participation in the Game Developers Conference due to increasing concerns related to COVID-19 (also known as coronavirus)," Sony said.
"We felt this was the best option as the situation related to the virus and global travel restrictions change daily. We are disappointed to cancel our participation, but the health and safety of our global workforce is our greatest concern."
The event will be held
However, amidst these high-profile, GDC organizers said they still plan to hold the event as scheduled – with the appropriate precautions.
"The GDC team is closely monitoring developments surrounding the coronavirus as we take the health and safety of the game development community very seriously," the event organizers said.
“In accordance with the strict quarantine laws enacted by the US government and the guidance of the Department of Public Health, WHO and CDC, we have implemented enhanced measures on site, we are confident that the Game Developers Conference will follow in the footsteps of other large and successful events taking place at the Moscone Center.”
The coronavirus has killed more than 2,000 people and infected more than 75,000 worldwide, according to the latest reports. While most cases have affected China ,deaths have been reported in South Korea, Iran, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan ,Taiwan and France.
