Facebook on Thursday announced its decision to pull out of next month's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco due to on-going concerns with the coronavirus outbreak.
Facebook Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies at a House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington, October 23, 2019.on Thursday announced its decision to pull out of next month's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco due to on-going concerns with the coronavirus outbreak.
"GDC is always a highlight of our gaming event lineup, however the health of our employees and the wider games community comes before anything else," the company said in. "Due to the evolving health concerns surrounding COVID-19, Facebook's AR/VR and Gaming teams will not be attending GDC this year."
Facebook typically uses the Game Developers Conference each year to make announcements for its Oculus virtual reality division and its other endeavors in gaming. A company spokesman said Facebook will still make its planned announcements, but it will do so in a digital format. The company said it plans to return to GDC in 2021.
"The GDC team is following developments around the Novel Coronavirus closely as we take the health and safety of our game development community very seriously," a spokesman for GDC told CNBC in a statement.
The fast-spreading virus has infected more than 75,000 people — up from just 282 cases as of Jan. 20 — and spread from four countries to more than two dozen in that time frame.
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