According to Kojima Productions’ official website, the developer won’t attend the Games Developers Conference 2020 due to Coronavirus’ concerns. Legendary director Mr. Hideo Kojima is trying to avoid cross contamination and protect is workforce.
“Kojima Productions has made the difficult decision to cancel our participation at the 2020 Game Developers Conference due to increasing concerns related to novel coronavirus.
“Although much-anticipated, unfortunately this cancellation also includes Hideo Kojima’s session on the 19th and Eric Johnson’s session on the 16th.”
Coronavirus is affecting all upcoming events, PAX East and GDC has seen major companies announcing that amid fears of contamination they’re skipping the events.
The Mayor of Boston has recently formally requested Sony Interactive Entertainment to reconsider its decision to not assist GDC 2020. Mayor Marty Walsh has sent a letter directly to Kenichiro Yoshidam CEO of Sony.
“We felt this was the safest option as the situation is changing daily,” company officials wrote in a statement posted Wednesday. “We are disappointed to cancel our participation in this event, but the health and safety of our global workforce is our highest concern.”
“These fears reinforce harmful stereotypes that generations of Asians have worked hard to dismantle,” reads Walsh’s letter. “They trigger our worst impulses: to view entire groups of people with suspicion, to close ourselves off, and to miss out on the opportunities and connections our global city provides. Boston is united in our efforts to dispel these harmful and misguided fears.”
It’s understandable that Sony is doing their best in protecting their workforce, the Coronavirus pose a big threat to mankind and it should be given respect, unnecessary risk of infection should be avoided at all cost, but the perhaps Sony is killing two birds with one bullet. Sony might be opting to keep a low profile as they manage to lower the manufacturing cost of the PlayStation 5.
Source: WCVB
Stay tuned at Gaming Instincts via Twitter, YouTube and Facebook for more gaming news.
