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GDC 2020 still happening despite coronavirus concerns

GDC 2020 still happening despite coronavirus concerns

San Francisco trade show the Game Developers Conference (GDC) is still taking place despite the city calling a state of emergency over the coronavirus outbreak.

In a letter to event attendees, the president and CEO of the San Francisco Travel Association Joe D'Alessandro wrote that there aren't any cases of coronavirus in the city yet and that there's a low risk to the general public. The organisation said that the state of emergency called on February 25th by Mayor London Breed was a preparatory measure which allows more resources for if the outbreak hit San Francisco.

"[San Francisco Department of Health] recommends that everyone practice common sense prevention such as frequent hand washing in order to prevent illness," D'Alessandro wrote. "If you are sick, please stay at home and do not attend work, school or conferences."

Companies including PlayStation, Facebook and Electronic Arts have already pulled out of GDC 2020 due to concerns over coronavirus. The virus has also impacted production of Valve's Index VR headset, while Blizzard cancelled Overwatch esports matches in China.

 


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.