Audio By Carbonatix
Facebook has canceled the in-person portion of F8, the company’s annual developer conference, due to coronavirus concerns. F8 was originally scheduled to take place on May 5th and May 6th later this year.
Instead, Facebook says that it will replace the main F8 conference with “locally hosted events, videos and live-streamed content.”
The full statement is below:
“In light of the growing concerns around COVID-19, we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel the in-person component of F8 this year, in order to prioritize the health and safety of our developer partners, employees and everyone who helps put F8 on. We plan to replace the in-person F8 event with locally hosted events, videos and live-streamed content.”
In a blog post further explaining the decision to cancel the conference, Facebook’s director of developer platforms and programs Konstantinos Papamiltiadis said that “we need to prioritize the health and safety of our developer partners, employees and everyone who helps put F8 on.”
Papamiltiadis goes on to note that Facebook explored other options to allow the conference to go forward but concluded that it was “important to us to host an inclusive event and it didn’t feel right to have F8 without our international developers in attendance.”
F8 isn’t the first major tech event to be canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak: Mobile World Congress was canceled earlier in February due to similar concerns over the virus. Meanwhile, GDC 2020 has seen multiple major companies and developers pull out due to related fears, including Unity, Sony, Electronic Arts, Facebook, Kojima Productions, and Microsoft’s Game Stack team, although the conference itself is still planned to take place next month.
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Latest Stories
-
Trump says $72bn Netflix-Warner Bros deal ‘could be a problem’
43 minutes -
Nigerian gov’t secures release of 100 kidnapped schoolchildren, Channels TV says
54 minutes -
Shooting at South African bar leaves 11 dead, including a young child, police say
1 hour -
Bobi Wine says Uganda security forces beat him
1 hour -
Trump criticises Democrat he pardoned over not switching political parties
1 hour -
Nigeria seeks French help to combat insecurity, Macron says
2 hours -
‘My family destroyed my marriage with Annie, now they’re after Natasha’ – 2Face
5 hours -
Annie Macaulay reverts Instagram name to ‘Idibia’ amid 2Face’s marital drama with Natasha
5 hours -
Wizkid shades Davido as his album emerges most streamed African album of 2025
5 hours -
Nigeria moves fast to shield Benin’s democracy from dawn coup, say Tinubu
5 hours -
Kufuor blames key Akufo-Addo policies for NPP’s 2024 defeat
6 hours -
Prof. Adei urges gov’t to back private universities as medical admissions hit crisis levels
6 hours -
Unity is the path to power – Kufuor calls for one strong NPP
7 hours -
Mahama marks first anniversary of election victory
7 hours -
Akufo-Addo managed Covid-19 well – Kufour
7 hours
