Kojima Productions Cancels GDC 2020 Plans “Due To Increasing Concerns Related To Coronavirus”

Concerns about the coronavirus epidemic have impacted the games industry in recent weeks as well, including several upcoming yearly events and trade shows. The Game Developers Conference is scheduled for March, but a few companies have pulled out of the event due to said concerns, including, most recently, Sony and Oculus.

Another company that’s not cancelling it GDC 2020 plans is Kojima Productions. The indie studio recently made the announcement on Twitter, citing “increasing concerns related to coronavirus” as the reason for cancellation. This means that Hideo Kojima’s planned panel about the design philosophy of Death Stranding and AI programmer Eric Johnson’s session have both been cancelled.

Recently, Sony also cancelled its plans for the upcoming PAX East, which takes place in Boston, Massachusetts later this month, though the Mayor of Boston said that their decision – motivated by “fear, not facts” – “reinforces harmful stereotypes”. Read more on that through here.

Kojima Productions has made the difficult decision to cancel our participation at the 2020 Game Developers Conference due to increasing concerns related to coronavirus. (1/2)https://t.co/K6FJtq5Tpx

— KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS (Eng) (@KojiPro2015_EN) February 24, 2020

Although much-anticipated, unfortunately this cancellation also includes Hideo Kojima’s session on the 19th and Eric Johnson’s session on the 16th. (2/2)https://t.co/K6FJtq5Tpx

— KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS (Eng) (@KojiPro2015_EN) February 24, 2020