This year's Game Developers Conference, which was initially due to take place this month but postponed following the coronavirus outbreak, has been reimagined as GDC Summer, a three-day "celebration of the art, craft and business of game development" to be held this August.

GDC Summer is set to run from 4th-6th August at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, and is described as a "unique" Game Developers Conference experience that will blend the expert talks of the traditional event with a "freestyle" expo show floor, open from 5th-6th August.

"High-quality technical content, mixed with valuable roundtable discussions to foster conversation and connection" is promised, as is a new series of "microtalks and fireside chats", and a new dedicated space for comprehensive career development sessions.

GDC organizers plan new 3-day GDC Summer event for August https://t.co/WaXbdNRnDC

— GDC Festival of Gaming (@Official_GDC) March 19, 2020

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GDC 2020 was initially scheduled to run from 16th-20th March in San Francisco, but its organisers made the decision to postpone the show after a number of prominent companies, including Sony, Microsoft and Epic, pulled out amid coronavirus fears.

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", says its organisers, who also insist that "Safety remains [the] 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."

A wide-ranging programme of virtual talks has been made available online all this week in GDC 2020's stead, presented by those originally scheduled to speak at the live event.