Sony and Facebook withdraw from GDC 2020 due to concerns over new coronavirus outbreak

Both Sony and Facebook have announced that they have opted out of GDC 2020 because of concerns over a new coronavirus outbreak.

In a statement to the media, Sony mentioned that although they were very frustrated withdrawing from GDC 2020, they still believed that ensuring the health and safety of their global employees was the most important.

Sony said in the statement:

“We have made the difficult decision to cancel our participation in Game Developers Conference due to increasing concerns related to COVID-19 (also known as coronavirus),” Sony said in a statement to GamesIndustry. “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.”

A Facebook spokesperson stated GamesIndustry.biz:

“Out of concern for the health and safety of our employees, our dev partners, and the GDC community, Facebook will not be attending this year’s Game Developer Conference due to the evolving public health risks related to COVID-19. We still plan to share the exciting announcements we had planned for the show through videos, online Q&As, and more, and will plan to host GDC partner meetings remotely in the coming weeks.”

GDC 2020 is scheduled to open in San Francisco, California, March 16-20, 2020.