The GDC’s organizers have made the “difficult decision” to postpone this year’s event in light of growing fears over COVID-19 – the Coronavirus that appears to be spreading across the globe. GDC 2020 was originally scheduled to take place from March 16 to 20 in San Francisco, but it will now be hosted sometime “later in the summer.”
“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,” wrote GDC staff. “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.”
The decision isn’t much of a surprise. Over the past few days, we’ve seen many of the biggest companies – Amazon, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Facebook, Kojima Productions, Microsoft, Sony, and more – bail from the event over health concerns and the potential inadequacy of planned safety measures.
The postponement could be a predicament for companies such as NVIDIA, which was rumored to debut its next-generation graphics cards at the event. E3 is also scheduled to take place in a similar time frame, from June 9 to 11 in Los Angeles.