Due to the pandemic of COVID-19, lots of events are being postponed or outright canceled. Big annual conferences like E3 and GDC got the axe this year. The hope is that this will be behind us sooner rather than later, but it seems some companies are taking extra precautions, with Microsoft being a prime example.
Microsoft confirmed with a statement to ZDNet that both their external and internal events are going to be “digital-first” events now. The only specific event that’s mentioned is the MVP & RD Summit that was originally going to be in-person. They are taking this policy all the way to July 2021.
“In light of the challenges presented by COVID-19, Microsoft has been closely monitoring the developing global situation and re-assessing the overall company-wide in-person event strategy. As a company, Microsoft has made the decision to transition all external and internal events to a digital-first experience through July 2021. This will include future MVP & RD Summit which is currently scheduled for March 28-April 2, 2021. We will continue to evaluate the situation and look forward to connecting in person when the situation allows.”
While the hope is the pandemic will long be cleared up by then, you can never be too safe. Microsoft does say they will re-evaluate conference appearances, so they could still make some. We’ll just have to wait and see.