Yesterday Sony let it be known that it was canceling its plans to attend PAX East in the midst of growing coronavirus concerns. Today Sony has announced that it will be pulling out of GDC 20 for the same reasons.
“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). 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.”
Due to the world wide reach of a conference like GDC, the risk of spreading coronavirus is one that should be taken seriously. While the majority of known coronavirus cases have been contained to China it is still present in at least 27 different countries including the US. Once again I am bummed to see such an important member of the gaming community pull out of an important event like GDC, but I applaud the goal of keeping workers safe. It also seems that Sony isn’t alone this time as Facebook has also announced its plans to withdraw from the event for the same concerns. Hopefully the spread of this virus can soon be brought under control and the risks removed. To all those who have been affected by coronavirus, our thoughts are with you.
