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Facebook, Sony pulls out of Game Developers Conference amid Coronavirus concerns

Facebook had already cancelled an event it had planned at the Moscone Centre in San Francisco a week back.

Facebook, Sony pulls out of Game Developers Conference amid Coronavirus concerns

A Sony Playstation 4 controller is pictured at the Gadget Show Live@Christmas at Earl's Court in London, on November 1, 2013. Exhbitiors gather to show off their latest products in time for the Christmas season with this years stands focusing heavily on radio-controlled vehicles and audio equipment. AFP PHOTO/Leon Neal)

It seems like grey clouds of Novel Coronavirus from the Mobile World Congress (MWC) have shifted to one of the Games Developer Conference (GDC), which is due for next month, as major technology players are pulling out of the event.

Companies like Facebook and Sony have quit from this year’s event amid rising concerns of the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

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Just one day after announcing it wouldn’t be attending PAX East, Sony confirmed that it also won’t be attending the Game Developers Conference (GDC) this March in San Francisco also due to coronavirus concerns.

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Facebook had already cancelled an event it had planned at the Moscone Centre in San Francisco a week back.

Facebook, which owns VR company Oculus, also announced it won’t be attending GDC in either capacity. Chris Pruett, the director of content ecosystem at Oculus, said in a statement.

“Out of concern for the health and safety of our employees, our dev partners, and the GDC community as a whole, Facebook’s AR/VR and Gaming teams won’t be attending this year’s Game Developers Conference due to the evolving public health risks related to COVID-19”, the report added.

Earlier this month, organisers of the major mobile show, MWC 2020 was forced to cancel the event after major players and others pulled out amid the virus outbreak.

(With input from agencies)

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