Coronavirus: PlayStation and Facebook cancel presence at GDC 2020

The Coronavirus outbreak remains a worldwide concern, prompting many companies to cancel appointments for major events. Last week, the Mobile World Congress 2020, the world's largest mobile technology event, was canceled, followed by the absence of several manufacturers. The event should take place next week in Barcelona.

On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, two more important events will take place in the coming weeks and the first casualties are already being noticed. Next week, PAX East will take place in Boston and is one of the most popular popular culture events in the world, where news of video games, cinema, television series and other entertainment are revealed. PlayStation was carrying the first public display of The Last of Us II on PS4, but decided not to participate due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

In March, during March 16-20, the annual Game Developers Conference (GDC) event will be held in So Francisco, bringing together the most prestigious software and video game producers. Sony, once again, canceled its commitments for the same reasons. We made the difficult decision to cancel our participation in the GDC due to the growing concern about COVID-19. We feel that this is the best option for this situation related to the virus and global travel restrictions change daily. We are disappointed to cancel our participation, but the health and safety of our workers is our priority. We will remain available to participate in GDC in the future, the company said in a statement, quoted by Gamesindustry.biz.

Sony plans to share the content planned for the online event, in the form of videos, online Q&A, among other initiatives to mitigate its absence from the event.

At the GDC, Facebook was also expected, especially Oculus, which intended to reveal news about its virtual reality system, but Mark Zuckerberg's company also canceled its presence.

The GDC organization has already responded, mentioning on its website that it has plans to hold a safe event for the participants. He mentions that the quarantine system imposed by the United States, and several control points in the space itself, increase the confidence of the interviewees, still supported by the health departments of the State of California and the city of So Francisco.