Activision And Vivendi Leave The ESA

Entertainment Software Association

Yesterday, 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

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