Next Month’s Game Developers Conference Has Been Postponed Over COVID-19 Threat

The list of companies that have backed out of next month’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco continues to grow as the COVID-19 coronavirus continues to spread around the world. This has forced the GDC organizers to postpone the event despite yesterday’s claims that everything was moving forward according to plan.

“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,” said the organizers. “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.”

GDC will be re-scheduled for later this summer. The decision to push back the event follows hot on the heels of Blizzard Entertainment’s announcement that they were backing out from the event due to the threat of the novel coronavirus.

Several other big-name video game companies have also announced their withdrawal from the event over the past few days, including Amazon, Electronic Arts, Facebook, and Sony Interactive Entertainment. The San Francisco Department of Public Health has also recently declared a local health emergency to better prepare city residents for a possible outbreak.