PlayStation, as well as Facebook Oculus, have both announced they will not attend this year’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, California over concerns for COVID-19, the novel coronavirus.
PlayStation and Facebook will both be pulling out of GDC this year due to concerns over COVID-19. In a statement to IGN, Oculus says that the company will be “removing our booth footprint and are advising all employees to refrain from travel during the show.”
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In a statement to GamesIndustry.biz PlayStation offered a similar statement to the one it issued after announcing that Sony would be pulling out of PAX East. “We have made the difficult decision to cancel our participation in Game Developers Conference 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. We are disappointed to cancel our participation, but the health and safety of our global workforce is our highest concern. We look forward to participating in GDC in the future.”
IGN has also reached out to Sony for comment.
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GDC will continue as planned without Sony and Oculus, and spokespeople for the event issued the following statement regarding COVID-19 to IGN:
The GDC team is following developments around the Novel Coronavirus closely as we take the health and safety of our game development community very seriously. Following the strict quarantine laws put in place by the US government and guidance from the Department of Public Health, WHO and CDC, which has seen us put in place enhanced on-site measures, we are confident that the Game Developers Conference will follow in the footsteps of other large and successful international events taking place at the Moscone Center. As always, we thank the GDC community for their support and look forward to welcoming back those who haven’t been able to join us this year.
GDC will enact “enhanced on-site measures” per U.S. quarantine around coronavirus to host GDC in San Francisco. “We are also continuing to follow the latest CDC and WHO guidance, following in the footsteps of other large international events that are taking place successfully at the Moscone Center.”
This is the latest major game event to be impacted by COVID-19 following the Taipei Game Show and PAX East.
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Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.
Source: IGN.com PlayStation to Skip Another Major Games Event Over Coronavirus Concerns