Sony withdraws from GDC 2020 due to coronavirus

PlayStation has cancelled this year's GDC plan.

Sony It has been confirmed that it will not participate in the March Game Developers Conference (GDC). The company mentioned concerns about a coronavirus outbreak, which is the same reason it decided to skip PAX East later this month.

"In the wake of growing concerns about COVID-19 (also known as coronavirus), we made a difficult decision to cancel our participation in the Game Developers Conference," Sony said in a statement to GamesIndustry.

"We think this is the best option because the situation related to viruses and global travel restrictions is changing every day. We are disappointed to cancel participation, but the health and safety of our global employees is our top concern. We look forward Join GDC in the future. "

Sony is not alone. The Facebook gaming unit that oversees Oculus will also skip the show this year. Having said that, Oculus will An announcement about GDC is being published online.

GDC revealed that about ten exhibitors in China had to cancel, although some Chinese companies decided to send their American employees to participate instead. GDC organizer UBM said it is following US quarantine guidelines to expand on-site sanitation facilities and increase the frequency of facility cleaning.

To date, the coronavirus outbreak has led to the cancellation of the Taipei Game Show originally scheduled for February and has managed to disrupt China's manufacturing operations. This loss is expected to reach Nintendo's Switch supply in April.

GDC 2020 will run from March 16th to 20th.