Kojima Productions will not be attending the 2020 Game Developers Conference due to increasing concerns of coronavirus. The GDC is a major conference that allows video game industry workers to connect with each other, exchange ideas, and learn about new developments in the industry. Kojima Productions will not be attending this year despite Death Stranding being nominated for several awards at the GDC Awards show.
The Game Developers Conference has been around in some capacity for nearly thirty years. Since the beginning, it has always been a way for industry workers to celebrate the work of their peers and work together to further the future of gaming. Over the years, larger companies have begun to get involved, and now it is one of the largest gaming conferences in the world. The GDC Awards show is important to game developers as well because it is the industry's only peer-based awards show. Any member of the IGDA can nominate a game for an award, while the rest of the membership votes on it.
On its Twitter, Kojima Productions announced early this morning that they would not be attending the annual conference. The growing health concerns related to coronavirus have made the company decide to stay away from the large crowds at GDC. This also means that Hideo Kojima himself will not be attending the conference and will be canceling his presentation on Death Stranding. Check out the announcement from Kojima Productions below:
Coronavirus has caused a big shakeup in the video game industry recently. Earlier this month, Sony withdrew from PAX East due to the virus. Sony was initially planning on having a booth at the event that would allow attendees to get hands-on experience with demos for new games. A few days later, Facebook announced that they would not be attending GDC 2020 physically this year and will instead livestream their announcements to the GDC crowd. This means that attendees will not be able to check out any upcoming Oculus titles at GDC this year.
The 2020 GDC has lost quite a few big names to the fear of illness this year. Luckily for attendees, Kojima Productions was not planning on revealing anything big at the event. Still though, it is a shame that Hideo Kojima will not be able to accept any award that Death Stranding happens to win at the awards show. This decision does make a lot of sense though, as the safety and health of a company's employees should come first.
Source: Kojima Productions