GDC postponed after several firms withdraw due to coronavirus concerns - CNET

Sony had been expected to unveil details on its upcoming PlayStation 5 during GDC.

James Martin/CNET

This year's Game Developers Conference has been postponed following earlier news that prominent game companies Blizzard, Microsoft, Amazon and Epic Games were dropping out of the event due to concerns over the novel coronavirus. The GDC announced the postponement Friday afternoon on the heels of cancellations of other big tech events like Mobile World Congress and Facebook's F8 conference.

"After close consultation with our partners in the game development industry and community around the world, we've made the difficult decision to postpone the Game Developers Conference this March," the organizers said in a statement. "Having spent the past year preparing for the show with our advisory boards, speakers, exhibitors, and event partners, we're genuinely upset and disappointed not to be able to host you at this time."

The GDC didn't provide a new date for the event, only that "we fully intend to host a GDC event later in the summer." Those who registered for the event will receive an email about registration and the process of receiving a refund. Some developer talks, presentations, the Independent Games Festival and Game Developers Choice Awards will be streamed online. 

GDC, which is where publishers and developers preview new gaming tech, was scheduled for March 16 to 20 in San Francisco. But in light of the spread of the deadly coronavirus from China to the rest of the world, studios decided to ditch the conference.

Coronavirus deaths now top 2,800, with over 84,000 cases confirmed.

The following is a rundown of announcements from game companies about their GDC plans:

More on the coronavirus

Blizzard

On Friday, game developer Blizzard said it would no longer attend this year's GDC due to growing concerns about the coronavirus.

"The health and well-being of our teams is our highest priority," Blizzard said in a tweet, adding that GDC "is and has always been an important event for our developers, so we look forward to participating in the future."

Gearbox Software

Gearbox tweeted Friday its team wouldn't be attending GDC 2020.

"Gearbox today notified GDC organizers that our team will not attend GDC or be able to give their scheduled presentations," Gearbox said. "Our employees' health and wellness is our primary concern." 

Amazon

Amazon Web Service (AWS) said Friday it withdrew from GDC 2020 due to concerns of the coronavirus. 

Instead of attending, the AWS Game Tech team will hold an online event in May that will have talks featuring members of the team, interactive demos and AWS experts to speak with. 

Microsoft

Microsoft said Thursday it's dropping out of GDC because "the health and safety of players, developers, employees and our partners around the world is our top priority."

Instead, Microsoft will hold an online event March 16 to 18. It'll include sessions on cloud gaming; panel discussions on game development, inclusive game design, online gaming, its new hardware and game streaming; and "a behind-the-scenes look" at work on Minecraft and Gears of War.

Microsoft had been expected to unveil more details on its next console, the Xbox Series X, at GDC.

Epic Games

Epic Games tweeted its decision Thursday, saying it'll instead make its planned announcements "through other channels."

"Here at Epic we were excited about participating in GDC 2020," the studio tweeted. "Regrettably, uncertainty around health concerns has made it unviable to send our employees."

Unity

Unity's decision also came Thursday. In a blog post, Unity said the current conditions of the spread of the coronavirus "present too much risk" to send anyone to San Francisco.

"We're advising all employees to refrain from traveling to GDC. We will no longer have a physical presence with a booth, but will instead showcase the great GDC content we've been working towards online," Unity said. It will announce details of its online announcements at a later date.

Sony was one of the earlier studios to drop out of GDC, with the PlayStation maker announcing its decision on Feb. 20 due to "increasing concerns related to COVID-19."

"We felt this was the best option as the situation related to the virus and global travel restrictions are changing daily," Sony said in an emailed statement.

Sony had been expected to unveil details on its upcoming PlayStation 5 during GDC.

Facebook/Oculus

Facebook's decision was also announced Feb. 20, with the Oculus owner saying "the health of our employees and the wider games community comes before anything else."

Facebook says it'll host GDC partner meetings remotely over the next few weeks, and instead make announcements slated for GDC through videos and online news hits on its Facebook Gaming developer website.

Electronic Arts pulled out of the conference earlier this week, saying it is restricting nonessential travel by employees due to the coronavirus.

"We are also canceling our official participation at GDC and limiting attendance to other events," EA told PC Gamer in a statement.

EA didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kojima

Kojima Productions dropped out of GDC 2020 on Feb. 24, calling it a "difficult decision."

Studio founder Hideo Kojima had been scheduled to give an hourlong talk on the design philosophy of hit game Death Stranding, according to CNET sister site GameSpot.

Originally published Feb. 27, 12 p.m. PT.
Update, 3:32 p.m.: Adds comment from Sony. Feb. 28: Adds GDC postponement and earlier Blizzard, Gearbox and Amazon withdrawals. 

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