Microsoft cancels GDC 2020 appearance

Microsoft is the latest company to join the list of those withdrawing from GDC 2020 over concerns related to the recent coronavirus outbreak.

Posting on the official Microsoft Game Stack blog, Microsoft said that it’s made the “difficult decision to withdraw” as the “health and safety of players, developers, employees, and […] partners around the world is [Microsoft’s] top priority.”

Instead, Microsoft will be hosting a digital-only event from March 16th until March 18th, which will be hosted on the official Game Stack website. This digital event should cover the majority of what the company planned to show at GDC 2020, ensuring nobody misses out.

You can read Microsoft’s post in its entirety below.

After a close review of guidance by global health authorities and out of an abundance of caution, we’ve made the difficult decision to withdraw from participating at Game Developers Conference 2020 in San Francisco. The health and safety of players, developers, employees, and our partners around the world is our top priority. Especially as the world is experiencing growing public health risks associated with coronavirus (COVID-19).

In light of this, we plan to move our presence to a digital-only event March 16-18th held on www.microsoft.com/gamestack. This event will feature the majority of our planned game developer sessions and experiences, which will be streamed live and available on demand.

Here’s what you can expect to see:

• Join us to learn about the latest in cloud and game development technologies through our technical talks and developer demos
• Tune into panel discussions with industry leaders about the evolution of game development, intentionally inclusive game design, the increasing role of online services, next gen hardware, and the future of game streaming.
• Get a behind-the-scenes look into design and development decisions made by the creators of Minecraft and Gears of War, and hear from Xbox Game Studios teams Double Fine, inXile, Compulsion, Rare, Obsidian, and Undead Labs

GDC has long been a moment for us to come together and celebrate Gaming for Everyone with our many vibrant communities. While we won’t be able to bring our G4E events online, we remain committed to celebrating and amplifying our diverse communities in gaming throughout the year.

Follow us on Twitter @MSFTGameStack to get the full event schedule, links, relevant information and game developer news from Microsoft.

Looking forward to sharing more with you in March,

Team Game Stack

GDC 2020 will take place between March 16th and 20th, 2020, in San Francisco, California.

In related news, Unity, Electronic Arts, Kojima Productions, PlayStation, and Facebook Gaming have also all announced their decisions to withdraw from GDC 2020 over coronavirus related concerns.