SAN FRANCISCO — Following withdrawals from high-profile exhibitors, including Microsoft, Epic Games, Sony and Kojima Productions, organizers for the Game Developers Conference announced Friday that the event would be postponed. The annual conference draws tens of thousands of game developers and industry stakeholders from around the world.

“After close consultation with our partners in the game development industry and community around the world, we’ve made the difficult decision to postpone the Game Developers Conference this March,” the event organizers said in a statement. “Having spent the past year preparing for the show with our advisory boards, speakers, exhibitors, and event partners, we’re genuinely upset and disappointed not to be able to host you at this time.”

The organizers said they intended to “host a GDC event later in the summer.”

On Feb. 20, Facebook and PlayStation were among the first to announce they would be canceling their appearances at the event due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. Over the following week, other exhibitors followed suit — a steady drip of cancellations.

Amid the pullback, a number of companies, including Facebook and Microsoft, announced they would replace their physical presence at the event with online presentations. Ultimately, the event could not go on as planned.

GDC is far from the only event to be hobbled by the coronavirus. PlayStation withdrew from PAX East in Boston on Feb. 19. In the esports world, the Overwatch League’s ambitious international event schedule was severely curtailed by the spread of the virus, prompting travel changes and canceled matches.