As we move into late February, the coronavirus epidemic continues to impact the games industry, with both Sony and Square Enix pulling out of PAX East due to heightened concerns. Now, it appears that GDC 2020 is also going to be negatively affected, as Death Stranding developer Kojima Productions has released a statement announcing the cancellation of its plans for the upcoming conference.

Kojima Productions recently took to its Twitter to announce that it is pulling out of its participation at GDC 2020 “due to increasing concerns related to coronavirus.” In a second tweet, the studio also confirms that both Hideo Kojima’s session on the 19th and AI programmer Eric Johnson’s session on the 16th have been canceled.

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 (@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 (@KojiPro2015_EN) February 24, 2020

Kojima Productions pulling out of GDC 2020 will likely be just one of many developers and publishers than end up doing the same thing as we approach the dates of the conference. That said, safety of course comes first, and until the epidemic is over, this trend will likely continue.

So, thoughts on Kojima Productions pulling out of GDC 2020? Let us know in the comments section below, and as always, stay tuned to Don’t Feed the Gamers for all the latest gaming and entertainment news! Don’t forget to follow DFTG on Twitter for our 24/7 news feed!

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