Kojima Productions is also pulling out of GDC

Joining Sony and Oculus

As concerns heighten due to the expansion of the coronavirus, yet a📖nother outfit has pulled out of another major trade show.

While Sony and Oculus (Facebook) have 🌳already announced thei♑r intentions of skipping GDC, Kojima Productions has revealed that it too will be missing the event. The message is fairly brief, but notes: “Kojima Productions has made the difficult decision to cancel our participation at the 2020 Game Developers Conference due to increasing concerns related to coronavirus. Although much-anticipated, unfortunately this cancellation also includes Hideo Kojima’s session on the 19th and Eric Johnson’s session on the 16th.”

That wasn’t just a nominal panel: but two panels, one of which was hosted by Kojima himself. It seems as if the prevailing mentality for eastern developers is to avoid exposure at major events: last week we said the recent pullouts wouldn’t be the last, and it seems as if they are cascading as we speak.

This isn’t a last-minute decision either, but a calculated one. GDC doesn’t start until March 16.

[Twitter]