Yesterday, Sony announced that they would be canceling their plans for PAX East, due to the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak. Today, the company has announced they will be skipping yet another public event, the Game Developers Conference, due to the same concerns. Not only that, but Facebook Gaming and Oculus have also withdrawn from GDC 2020 because of the virus. PlayStation has entirely pulled out of the event, though Facebook will still make announcements and reveals during GDC, by releasing videos and online Q&A's, instead of live ones, at the event. GDC 2020 will take place from March 16 to March 20.

"Out of concern for the health and safety of our employees, our dev partners, and the GDC community, Facebook will not be attending this year's Game Developer Conference due to the evolving public health risks related to COVID-19," a Facebook company spokesperson said. "We still plan to share the exciting announcements we had planned for the show through videos, online Q&As, and more, and will plan to host GDC partner meetings remotely in the coming weeks.

We have made the difficult decision to cancel our participation in Game Developers Conference due to increasing concerns related to COVID-19 (also known as coronavirus). We felt this was the best option as the situation related to the virus and global travel restrictions are changing daily. We are disappointed to cancel our participation, but the health and safety of our global workforce is our highest concern. We look forward to participating in GDC in the future.

Source

 

[Shape]

With that said, I can humanise them after work, at work I expect them to perform.

6 words: Stop infringing on their human rights.

 

[Foxi4]

6 words: Stop infringing on their human rights.

They have rights after work. At work they have responsibilities - to me, the customer.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

So, no E3, no PAX, no GDC, what's left at this point? Does Sony appear at Gamescom? It's gonna be hard to get the hype going for new games if they don't show up at any cons.

 

[FGFlann]

Conventions are just vehicles for trailers. Does it even matter if they happen? Most people just watch them after the fact. Nintendo got wise to this years ago.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Conventions are just vehicles for trailers. Does it even matter if they happen? Most people just watch them after the fact. Nintendo got wise to this years ago.

Nintendo has Directs though, and there's always one around E3. They serve the same purpose. Plus, Nintendo still have a show floor at E3 with demos. Sony has nothing like that, as far as I know, and even ditched the show floor.

 

[WarioWaffles]

Conventions are just vehicles for trailers. Does it even matter if they happen? Most people just watch them after the fact. Nintendo got wise to this years ago.

I agree but even then it's mostly fluff and lies so it's double pointless.