The Game Developers Conference may take place later this year.
Informa Tech, the organizer of GDC, has announced that the event will take place this summer, and will be called GDC Summer. The event will take place in San Francisco from August 4-6. A showfloor will be open from August 5-6. There will be several keynotes, fireside chats and microtalks held throughout the show. Developers at the show will be able to apply for space onsite in order to host meetings on top of the main show. This includes non-profit board meetings, local meet-ups, reviewing portfolios and recording podcasts.
"GDC Summer will give the game development community a chance to come together in a way that hasn't currently been possible due to COVID-19," stated Informa Tech (via DualShockers). "Safety remains the GDC organizers' paramount concern and the GDC team will continue to monitor the latest information from health officials to ensure a safe and compelling event for everyone at GDC Summer, GDC 2021 and beyond. Full details for GDC Summer can be viewed on the official GDC website."
GDC Summer is not the only convention planned to take place this summer despite the COVID-19 outbreak. The event organizers of Gamescom 2020 have stated that the event will still take place this August in Cologne, Germany. Right now, Cologne has banned all major events with more than 1,000 participants until April 10th, which does not place Gamescom in any risk at the moment. However, the organization team has stated that they will follow the recommendations of responsible authorities regarding major events. The statement does say that if the event does get cancelled, all ticket purchases will be reimbursed.
GDC was originally postponed last month. The postponement was made after a number of companies pulled out from the event, including Microsoft and EA. It was one of many events happening this year that was either cancelled or postponed due to coronavirus. Other events included Coachella, SXSW, and E3 2020.
