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GDC 2020 will go ahead with heavy restrictions for Chinese companies

The firms will need to send a North American representitive if they still wish to take part

GDC 2020 will go ahead with heavy restrictions for Chinese companies

The Game Developers Conference 2020 will go ahead despite concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.

According to the official GDC website, all China-based exhibitors have been forced to either push back their attendance to next year or send a North American representative. This is due to the US travel and safety restrictions brought in after the epidemic.

Chinese exhibitors account for 10 of the 550 companies believed to be attending GDC 2020.

On top of this, attendees from China are prohibited from attending the event. The US government has put restrictions in place for visas and travel from areas heavily impacted by the coronavirus. This equates to two per cent of the total number of attendees.

Staying healthy

To ensure all exhibitors and guests are safe, the Moscone Centre in San Francisco - where the event is held - will have disinfecting electrostatic sprayers in populated areas. Equipment and common surfaces such as microphones, doorknobs, and light switches will be wiped down regularly.

GDC itself will follow the guidelines put in place by the World Health Organisation and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

It's everywhere

Thanks to the coronavirus, the Mobile World Congress 2020 was cancelled. Before this announcement, both Sony and Amazon confirmed they would not be in attendance due to the outbreak.

Apple and Nintendo have found themselves affected too, the former has restricted travel for its employees until the coronavirus is under control. The company has also been forced to put a hold on its increased iPhone production. As for the Japanese firm, the current outbreak has impacted Switch production in China.


Staff Writer

Kayleigh is the Staff Writer for PocketGamer.biz. Besides PGbiz and PCGI she has written as a list writer for Game Rant, rambling about any and all things games related. You can also find her on Twitter talking utter nonsense.