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News video games 29 February 2020, 11:09

author: Konrad Serafinski

GDC 2020 Postponed to Summer Due to Coronavirus Fears

Game Developers Conference, or GDC for short, was postponed due to fears of the novel coronavirus. The organizers informed the community about this in a communiqué, where they also write that the event will return in the summer.

The next industry event will have to wait. It'll be good if it even takes place.
IN A NUTSHELL:
  1. GDC 2020 postponed due to coronavirus.
  2. The organizers plan to come back to the topic this summer.
  3. It's another coronavirus-cancelled industry event after the GSMA. E3 may soon join this group.

Sad news for the whole gaming community (video game community in fact). The next big industry event will not take place on time. Game Developers Conference, or GDC for short, was postponed due to concerns about the novel coronavirus. The organizers informed about the whole situation via an official announcement on their website. You can read it below.

"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.

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.

We want to thank all our customers and partners for their support, open discussions and encouragement. As everyone has been reminding us, great things happen when the community comes together and connects at GDC. For this reason, we fully intend to host a GDC event later in the summer. We will be working with our partners to finalize the details and will share more information about our plans in the coming weeks."

Let's add that the conference was to be held on March 16-20, this year. As you can read from the announcement, the event will be moved to summer. Although, looking at the global situation with the spread of coronavirus, even this should not be taken for granted. Let's recall that before the organizers decided to postpone the event, several important companies such as Sony, Kojima Productions, EA, Microsoft, Unity or Epic Games withdrew from the event (or limited their presence). Activision Blizzard did this before.

The FAQ section shows that registered participants will be refunded for their tickets. Similarly with those who have made a hotel reservation in GDC's dedicated area. What is more, the organizers intend to make some of the planned discussion panels available via YouTube. They must, however, receive the consent from the speakers first.

Unfortunately, it may also turn out that the GDC will not be the last industry event to be cancelled due to the dangerous virus. The whole matter is being watched closely by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the organizers of the E3 in Los Angeles. Game Informer has published the official position of the association on this issue:

"Everyone is watching the situation very closely. We will continue to be vigilant, as our first priority is the health, wellness and safety of all of our exhibitors and attendees. Given what we know at this time, we are moving ahead full speed with E3 2020 planning. Exhibit and registration sales are on track for an exciting show in June."

The coronavirus takes its toll. Since the beginning of the year, there hasn't been a day, in which we wouldn't hear about more case of infected people. This also has a very strong impact on the whole gaming industry, a large part of which falls to the countries of the Far East, especially China, the location of the original outbreak. The problem is serious and should not be underestimated in any way. Therefore, a small appeal to you: follow the latest recommendations of specialists and remember to take precautions.

  1. GDC - official website