You can add another developer conference to the list of COVID-19-related cancellations. The Google I/O developer conference has officially been canceled for 2020. Although there is very little expected to come out of this even that is affiliated with virtual and augmented reality, it is still something to keep an eye on.
Each year in May, Google gets together to teach developers about developing on Android devices and has a slew of announcements and reveals to show off. This year, the conference scheduled for May 12-14, has been officially canceled.
Google has sent out official notices via email to all registered developers. They say this is the company taking extra caution with the COVID-19 breakout that seems inevitable. “All guests who have purchased tickets to I/O 2020 will receive a full refund by March 13, 2020,” the message reads. If you did purchase this and get your money back, you’ll automatically be entered to attend next year. This is a prestigious honor to go, and many will be upset by the news.
“Over the coming weeks, we will explore other ways to evolve Google I/O to best connect with our developer community. We will keep the Google I/O website with additional information,” the email went on to read.
This is going to be added to the other developer conference that has been canceled or postponed. F8 has been canceled from Facebook, the Mobile World Congress was canceled, and the Game Developer Conference has been pushed back, although the return date has yet to be made official. There is not a doubt in our heads that the GDC could also simply be canceled for the year.
This is going to force companies to find other ways to get their announcements out. The biggest companies like Facebook, Microsoft, Epic, and won’t have problems finding their audience, but other small up and coming tech companies are going to have a hard time finding a platform. Without these meetings, some will have a hard time even getting people to listen to their latest developments. It will be interesting to see how the next few months play out.
As for VR and AR news, we are certain we are in for a busy Q2 of 2020. For more VR news and AR community updates, make sure to check back at VRGear.com.
