Activision, Vivendi Quit ESA
The publishers of Guitar Hero and World of Warcraft aren't just pulling out of E3. They're also leaving the Entertainment Software Association.
"We can confirm that Activision and Vivendi Games opted to discontinue their membership," the ESA's Senior Vice President of Communications and Research, Rich Taylor, told Kotaku.
The ESA is the trade association for the videogame industry in the U.S. In addition to creating and supporting the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, it also owns and operates the annual E3 Media and Business Summit.
Other game publishers, including NCSoft and id, have also announced that they will not be participating in this year's E3. Industry sources speaking to Kotaku have pointed to publishers' dissatisfaction with current ESA president Mike Gallagher as the reason for the pullout. Gallagher joined the ESA last year, replacing longtime leader Doug Lowenstein.
Neither Activision nor Vivendi has provided an official reason for the departure, though the potential financial implications for Activision imply that this was not a decision to be undertaken lightly.
The ESRB charges a per-game fee to rate games for non-ESA members, meaning that Activision will now have to pay for each game it wants rated.
And they'll have to do it, as retailers including Wal-Mart and GameStop and most anywhere else you buy games, won't stock non-rated titles.
It's worth noting that the ESA's membership fees are based on the size
of the publisher, and that Activision's merger with Vivendi later this
year will form Activision Blizzard, which would be the industry's largest publisher.
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ME thinks there were some talks somewhere where MAYHAPS the ESRB wanted to throw its weight around and pissed off the Wrong people. WHO knows maby they figure they will just move all sales online and skip retale.
I also think we may see more of this. ESRB is a joke. YES they rate the games but Game companies still have the GOVT on there back about the blood and violence. So really if your still gonna get harrased why pay extra for it.
My prediction is there will be a Activision Blizzard store in ever shopping plaza in America. No need for the ESA to rate your games if you control the sales channel too.
Nah, I bet they just crunched the numbers and decided it was cheaper to pay to have each game rated than it was for the new combined company to pay membership.
Nah, I'm with Zach. Brick and mortar stores are the future. In fact, I'll bet the next WoW expansion comes out on floppies.
COM'ON! Activision/Blizzard STORES? Maybe one specialty store across the street from their headquarters. Downloads are the future, not more physical stores and media. Not next week, not next month, not next year.
But within 5-10 years, VOD for movies and GOD (games on delivery, which makes for a great acronym) for games. Music has MP3, VOD is already in existence, and places like Direct2Drive and Steam are already doing mainstream games without stores. It'll take a bit to get the bandwidth and speed up to what is required (hence my 5-10 year guess), but once that's done, convenience beats driving to the store every time.
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There are some people who have no time to "farm" or earn in-game money to play an online videogame, so they opt to buy in-game money to spend in online games.Then have a new business disapear,we often call it RMT(Real Money Trade).Which has some kinds of ways to buy gold As you could buy them from ebay once,and you can buy them from some online gold stores.
There are some people who have no time to "farm" or earn in-game money to play an online videogame, so they opt to buy in-game money to spend in online games.Then have a new business disapear,we often call it RMT(Real Money Trade).Which has some kinds of ways to buy gold As you could buy them from ebay once,and you can buy them from some online gold stores.
Next move, the ESA mafia will try and do whatever in their power to show Actiblizzard who's boss, I hope they make it through the following roughing.
We have had rumble since launch
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Okay, background needed on this Gallagher guy. Why exactly don't they like him?
/game player, not maker so I'm not aware of these behind the scenes machinations