The Game Developer’s Conference (GDC) has lost several high priority companies this year due to the virus. In the last week, several developers and publishers have announced that the risk is far too high at the moment. Kojima Productions opted out of GDC on Monday and canceled Hideo Kojima’s presentation over Death Stranding at the event. This was followed up the next day when EA announced that GDC was too risky this year. The list has only begun to grow since then. Other companies include Microsoft, Facebook, Sony, and Epic Games.
Earlier today Activision-Blizzard announced that it would no longer be attending the event in any capacity. The company is also asking all of its employees to not attend the event at all. Activision-Blizzard went on to say that it is prioritizing the health of its employees, despite how important this event is to developers. The company has stated that it will be participating in the event in the future.
GDC is an important event for game developers both big and small. The event gives larger companies a chance to show off their new ideas and projects with the rest of the industry. It also gives smaller developers the ability to make connections and forge relationships with other people in the industry. If the event is canceled this year the larger companies won’t be affected though. People will buy whatever Microsoft or Sony are working on regardless. The smaller developers though will be drastically impacted by not being able to attend the event this year. For everyone’s safety and health though, GDC 2020 most likely won’t happen.
Next: Facebook Oculus Will Attend GDC 2020 Remotely Due To Coronavirus Fears
Sources: Venture Beat, Activision-Blizzard, Is GDC Cancelled Yet?
