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Unreal, Microsoft & Unity pull out of GDC 2020 over coronavirus concerns

GDC 2020 is starting to look bleaker as Unreal, Microsoft, and Unity have all pulled out of the conference over coronavirus concerns.

Josh Hawkins
Josh Hawkins
5

It looks like Unreal, Microsoft, and Unity are all set to join the likes of EA, Facebook, and Kojima Productions as all three companies have announced that they will not be attending GDC 2020 as normally planned.

The announcements come over health concerns regarding the coronavirus, now more professionally known as COVID-19. These three are just the latest to join an already somewhat long list of companies skipping GDC 2020. We know that Microsoft had some big plans for the conference, so it’s definitely a huge deal that the company, alongside heavy hitters like Unity and Unreal are dropping out.

Unreal is just one of the latest companies to drop out of GDC 2020
Unreal is just one of three of the latest companies to pull out of GDC 2020.

Honestly, it’s astounding that GDC 2020 is still happening given the growing concerns about the coronavirus and how many companies have already pulled out of the yearly convention. This doesn’t bode well for future events, either, which are sure to see a lower attendance than normal if the threat of COVID-19 continues to grow.

GDC is always a great time for Unreal and Unity, both of which often show off huge improvements in their game-engines. Unfortunately, these two companies skipping out on the show will no doubt be a huge hit to the conference. Thankfully, all three companies plan to offer their GDC content (or at least most of it) via online livestreams, so we’ll have more information about those plans as soon as they reveal them. It has yet to be revealed if Microsoft is planning on canceling its yearly ID@Xbox event, which usually takes place separately around the same time of the year. We’ll update with info on that as soon as we have more to share.

You can read the Microsoft, Unreal, and Unity statements on their respective sites. Each company appears to have a plan in place to share the news digitally, so fans will still have a chance to hear what's coming and what new advancements have been made.

GDC 2020 is set to take place from March 16 through 20. It will be interesting to see which developers and companies continue their plans to attend, or if the show ends up canceled due to health concerns. Be sure to keep your eyes glued to our GDC 2020 hub for all the latest info and news.

Guides Editor
Guides Editor

Joshua holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and has been exploring the world of video games for as long as he can remember. He enjoys everything from large-scale RPGs to small, bite-size indie gems and everything in between.

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