For all its antivirus protection, the tech world realizes that it is not dependent on deadly biological viruses. IDC hasn't just predicted that this novel coronavirus could cause PC sales to drop this year, with many factories shuttered and demand already falling. But also, many trade shows and tech events have already been cancelled. The latest in this series of cancellations is the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2020 in San Francisco. It would take place from March 16 to 20. According to an update on the GDC website, Informatech, the organization behind GDC, "made the difficult decision to postpone the game developer conference until March" after "close consultation with our partners" 39; game development industry and community around the world."
All major companies withdrew
Not surprisingly, GDC 2020 finally raised its failing hands. GDC 2020 has gradually decreased in recent days due to the withdrawal of large exhibitors. Sony and Oculus were the first to go, pulling out more than a week ago, followed by EA, Hideo Kojima, PlayStation and Facebook. A day before the cancellation, Microsoft, Epic, and Unity also gave up, with Microsoft citing concerns for the "well-being of our teams and community" due to the "increasing public health risks associated with coronavirus (COVID) - 19)." With so many of their big players giving up, it was only a matter of time before other exhibitors did the same. And reportedly the number of conference attendees also dropped significantly: Facebook, for its part, said it "advises all employees not to attend the show." The San Francisco Bay Area recently announced two cases of community transmission of COVID-19. This led some outlets to call Northern California "the epicenter of what authorities are calling the tipping point in the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus." Therefore, having a massive conference with participants from all over the world sharing game consoles, VR headsets, and other gaming-related technology may not be the best idea. However, not all bad news. Microsoft plans to host an "all-digital event" on March 16-18. Therefore, you are always ready to make the announcements you planned to make at the conference.