After days of speculation and more cancellations than one can count, GDC 2020 is officially postponed due to coronavirus fears. The event isn't canceled, but the ongoing and rapid growth of global coronavirus cases means that its new date won't be very soon.
Novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, is a SARS-like epidemic that originated in Wuhan, China; the highly virulent disease has infected 80,000 people and killed nearly 3,000 since January. Most of the havoc wreaked by the virus was isolated to mainland China until recently, when cases began springing up worldwide, including in the US. World governments and businesses have increasingly been wary of contributing to COVID-19's further spread, prompting tech giants like Microsoft, Sony, and Facebook to pull out of GDC 2020 in droves to avoid unnecessary illness among employees. The latest high-profile GDC 2020 drop-outs, Activision-Blizzard and Amazon, came as recently as the day it was delayed, all but assuring that the event organizers would be left with no choice other than to reschedule or cancel this year's conference.
Finally, that moment has come, as announced on the official GDC website. GDC 2020 was scheduled to take place in March, but it has now been postponed until "later in the summer," the same busy season that already hosts E3 and San Diego Comic-Con. Many reported rumors suggest that this decision was not a simple or quick one for the organizers to make, a sentiment strongly echoed in the full statement:
"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."
GDC staff and attendees are far from the only ones within the gaming industry feeling the adverse effects of the growing concern caused by COVID-19. This month alone, Nintendo warned its Japanese customers of potential delayed Switch and Ring Fit Adventure shipments, while fears have grown that the virus will also potentially delay the development and release of the next-generation Xbox Series X and PS5 consoles. Even digital software is on the chopping block, with China's publisher of MMO space sim EVE Online, NetEase, being forced to delay a mobile spin-off until later this year.
Though these myriad measures to curb COVID-19's transmission, including the significant postponement of GDC 2020, are anything but convenient, they're necessary. Vital industry conferences are lovely, but they put hundreds of people into crowded spaces when public health should unquestionably be the first priority in a global health crisis. Players, developers, and publishers should be prepared to weather as many disappointing cancellations and delays as needed until coronavirus is history.
Source: GDC