Both PlayStation and Facebook Gaming/Oculus have announced they won’t be attending this year’s Game Developers Conference due to concerns surrounding coronavirus. This is the second major gaming event Sony has pulled out of, as they announced yesterday they won’t be attending PAX East as previously planned. Here’s what Sony had to say about their decision to no-show GDC.

　　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.

　　Not a terribly surprising decision following the PAX cancellation, but it’s sure to spark plenty of disappointment and speculation, as it’s expected/hoped Sony’s big PlayStation 5 reveal is coming sometime within the next few months. If it’s not happening at PAX or GDC, then when? I suppose PlayStation fans are just going to have sit tight for now.

　　Meanwhile, Facebook Gaming says they’ll still be making some Oculus-related announcements during GDC, even if they won’t be at the conference physically…

　　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. 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.

　　GDC 2020 takes place March 16 to March 20 in San Francisco. At this point, it seems very unlikely it will be the last gaming event to be effected by the COVID-19 outbreak.