As the novel coronavirus pandemic’s impact is felt across the globe, shutting down everything from international travel to the NBA to markets, it continues to encroach on gaming as well. Here’s what we’re looking at this morning.
GDC, which canceled its conference before the curve, will be streaming many of its talks and programs instead.
“Thanks to submissions from many of the original speakers who had talks accepted for GDC 2020, organizers will be streaming speaker-recorded versions of the talks they would have given in person, for free all week (from 9am to 5pm PT) from March 16th through 20th. The Independent Games Festival and Game Developers Choice Awards ceremonies will also stream virtually starting at 5pm PT (8pm ET) on Wednesday, March 18th for free on GDC’s Twitch channel.”
Blizzard’s Overwatch League has suspended live events until at least May.
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) March 11, 2020
More and more gaming companies are continuing to implement work-from-home policies. ArtCraft Entertainment, which is working on MMORPG Crowfall, announced the measure yesterday.
We started a mandatory work-from-home policy today at @ArtCraftEnt for @CrowfallGame . I suggest other companies to do the same.
— J Todd Coleman (@jtoddcoleman) March 12, 2020
MassivelyOP is already a remote business with writers in three countries and many states; we’ll continue operating as long as we’re physically well enough to carry on.
There’s a bit of good news: Discord announced that it will be changing its streaming limits to make it easier to work and learn from home using the platform.
An update from us regarding COVID-19: pic.twitter.com/gKUXvvsqrs
— Discord (@discord) March 11, 2020
The virus has been determined to have infected nearly 130,000 people, 1300 of those in the US, with 4700 deaths globally. Please take care of yourself and each other.
More on the impact of the virus on gaming:
MOP's been covering the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on online gaming since January 2020, and we're still going from behind our own quarantines, both to keep up with the news and be a source of entertainment and comfort too. Stay abreast of the big MMO impacts with us, but please be safe and care for your communities above all else.Everyone at Funcom is set up well for working remotely and we do not expect this to have significant impact on our games and live services.
Our game servers will remain fully operational.
Thank you for your understanding and please stay safe.
— Funcom (@Funcom) March 12, 2020
