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Coronvirus concerns cause Facebook to cancel F8 and Microsoft to pull out of GDC 2020

By Kenny Yeo - on 28 Feb 2020, 9:33am

Coronvirus concerns cause Facebook to cancel F8 and Microsoft to pull out of GDC 2020

(Image source: The Verge)

Coronavirus is disrupting the tech industry in a big way. Facebook has just announced that it will cancel its F8 developer conference this year.

F8 is Facebook's biggest event of the year. It is where developers and entrepreneurs come together to learn about Facebook's newest features and how to develop apps and services.

It was scheduled to take place later this year on May 5 at the San Jose McEnery Convention Centre. Some 5,000 developers, creators, and entrepreneurs were expected to attend.

In a statement, Facebook said:

This was a tough call to make -- F8 is an incredibly important event for Facebook and it's one of our favorite ways to celebrate all of you from around the world -- but we need to prioritize the health and safety of our developer partners, employees and everyone who helps put F8 on.

This isn't the first event that Facebook has cancelled over concerns of the coronavirus. It earlier cancelled a global marketing summit also due to fears of the coronavirus.

(Image source: Windows Central)

Facebook wasn't the only one who had its plans for the year disrupted by Covid-19. Microsoft also announced that it will be pulling out of GDC 2020 (Game Developers Conference) because of concerns over the virus.

Microsoft joins Sony, Facebook, and Unity, who have all said that they will not be attending GDC 2020.

In a statement, Microsoft said:

After a close review of guidance by global health authorities and out of an abundance of caution, we've made the difficult decision to withdraw from participating at Game Developers Conference 2020 in San Francisco. The health and safety of players, developers, employees, and our partners around the world is our top priority. Especially as the world is experiencing growing public health risks associated with coronavirus (COVID-19).

However, Microsoft said it will still be showing things off by turning its "developers sessions and experiences" into a digital-only event.

At the time of writing, GDC 2020 is still going ahead as planned and it will run from 16 to 20 March.

That said, seeing how fast the coronavirus situation changes daily, don't be surprised if it gets cancelled altogether. How is the situation exactly? This Covid-19 app tracker paints the picture.

Source: CNET, Windows Central

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