Activision-Blizzard and Amazon Games are the latest companies to pull out of GDC this year, which leaves many wondering if the event will even happen. Both groups have pulled out due to fears surrounding the COVID-19 Coronavirus. This particular strain of the virus has caused widespread panic as it has infected over 80,000 people and killed almost 3,000.
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.
Amazon was the other large company that announced it would not be attending GDC this year. Rather than risk exposing its team to the virus, Amazon will instead be holding an online event sometime soon to show off their new developments. With all of these companies opting out, the only large sponsors that haven't announced anything yet are Google and Nvidia. Currently, GDC's organizer, Informa Tech, has not canceled the show, but Venture Beat reports that an announcement will be coming later today. While the event hasn't been canceled, a helpful website called "Is GDC Cancelled Yet?" is currently keeping track of it and which developers have stated they won't be attending.
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.
Sources: Venture Beat, Activision-Blizzard, Is GDC Cancelled Yet?