Activision And Vivendi Leave The ESA
Entertainment Software AssociationYesterday, we learned that Activision and Vivendi would not be attending the E3 event this year. This makes what used to be the biggest video game show on earth even smaller (unfortunately), and now, it seems the publishers have taken yet another step to separate themselves from the Entertainment Software Association. It's simple- they're just not renewing their membership.
According to Joystiq, Activision and Vivendi have discontinued their membership with the ESA; it was confirmed by the ESA's senior vice-president of communications and research, Rich Taylor: "We can confirm that Activision and Vivendi Games opted to discontinue their membership. The ESA remains dedicated to advancing our industry’s objectives such as protecting intellectual property, preserving First Amendment rights, and fostering a beneficial environment for the entire industry. Our high level of service and value to members and the larger industry remains unchanged." Well, yeah, that's great, but why did Activision and Vivendi decide to make this move? What was their motivation? Will other publishers follow suit?
We sure would like to know the details behind their decision to opt out of the ESA, and if that becomes public, we'll definitely let you know. In the meantime, we'll try to come up with some answers of our own, and hope that more publishers don't bow out of E3 and the ESA.
5/2/2008 Ben Dutka
Put this on your webpage or blog:
Email this to a friend
Follow PSX Extreme on Twitter
Comments (5 posts)
ArnoldK PSXE [Administrator]
Friday, May 02, 2008 @ 1:13:44 PM
Reply
Now, the funny thing is this...last year, Activision didn't let people play their games on display at the hangar. Only their reps were allowed to demo the games. I managed to play them after I made a weird face when they told me this...I think they felt kind of stupid that their higher-ups were making them do that.
0 up, 0 down
BoJenks
Friday, May 02, 2008 @ 2:58:34 PM
Reply
0 up, 0 down
Tatsujin
Friday, May 02, 2008 @ 3:39:59 PM
Reply
0 up, 0 down
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Friday, May 02, 2008 @ 9:05:35 PM
Reply
"After careful consideration, Activision has decided not to renew its ESA membership for business reasons and will not be participating in any official E3 activities. We appreciate the work that the ESA has done over the years in promoting the interactive entertainment industry with state and federal governments and wish the ESA best of luck with the show."
Doesn't tell you much, but there it is.
0 up, 0 down
Qubex
Reply
Friday, May 02, 2008 @ 11:46:31 AM
Q!