Coronavirus fears lead Facebook, Sony to quit Game Developers Conference

A file photo of video game enthusiasts fill the Xbox game booth to try out new games at the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo. Facebook and Sony have said they won't attend the annual Game Developers Conference (GDC) that is set to be held at San Francisco's Moscone Center next month due to concerns about the ongoing coronavirus epidemic. — Los Angeles Times/TNS

Another big Bay Area tech conference is taking a hit due to the worldwide coronavirus outbreak.

Facebook and Sony have said they won't attend the annual Game Developers Conference (GDC) that is set to be held at San Francisco's Moscone Center next month due to concerns about the ongoing coronavirus epidemic. Facebook also said representatives of its Oculus virtual reality gear business won't attend the conference, which is slated to run from March 16-20.

Facebook said in a statement that it was withdrawing from sending anyone to GDC "out of concern for the health and safety of our employees, our (development) partners, and the GDC community". However, Facebook said the company would make announcements at GDC around its Oculus business via digital formats and would hold online video-based sessions related to the conference.

GDC said earlier this week that because of "the strict US quarantine around coronavirus, and a large number of enhanced on-site measures, we are able to execute a safe and successful event for our community", and planned to hold the conference as scheduled. GDC has said approximately 10 of the 550 registered attendees have withdrawn from the video game industry show.

GDC is the latest local tech confab to see attendees pull out because of the coronavirus. Last week, Facebook cancelled its annual global marketing summit, which was set to be held in San Francisco in March, due to coronavirus concerns, and IBM and AT&T have withdrawn from next month's RSA security conference in the city for similar reasons.

Earlier this month, event organisers pulled the plug on the massive Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona because of fears about the spread of coronavirus.

The World Health Organisation says more than 75,000 people worldwide have been infected with coronavirus, and more than 2,100 people have died from the disease, with the majority of cases being around the central Chinese city of Wuhan. – The San Jose Mercury News/Tribune News Service