Kojima Productions is the latest gaming company to announce that it will not be attending the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco in March due to the ongoing outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Studio founder Hideo Kojima was slated to give an hour-long talk on the design philosophy of last year's divisive hit Death Stranding.
"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," a post on the studio's website reads. "Although much-anticipated, unfortunately this cancellation also includes Hideo Kojima’s session on [March 19] and Eric Johnson’s session on [March 16]."
The studio's announcement follows similar proclamations from other major players in the gaming space, such as Sony, which cancelled its GDC appearance and PAX East showcase over COVID-19 concerns. This included the highly-anticipated public demo of The Last of Us 2. This prompted the mayor of Boston, Marty Walsh, to urge the company to reconsider its decision, citing the fact that only one case of the virus has been confirmed in the city. At this time, Sony has shown no indication that it will reverse its decision.