May 2, 2008 - Updated: Activision Blizzard has canceled its membership in the Entertainment Software Association and will not be participating in the trade group's official E3 event in Los Angeles this year.
The publishing giant will not have a presence on the E3 show floor and will hold its own off-site press event on the first night of the conference instead.
"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," Activision told IGN in a written statement. "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."
Activision and Vivendi Games recently merged to form Activision Blizzard, which is now the largest game publisher. The merger has gathered some of gaming's top brands under one umbrella, including Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Starcraft.
We contacted the ESA for more information about the split, but a representative was unavailable for comment. Here's what ESA spokesman Rich Taylor told GameDaily:
"While the Entertainment Software Association remains the preeminent voice for U.S. computer and video game publishers, 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."
Although Activision is out, other large third-party publishers and first-party platform holders told IGN they are still committed to participating in E3, although the companies we spoke with today declined to elaborate on the extent of their planned involvement.
"EA is fully committed to ESA and E308," said Holly Rockwood, Electronic Arts' director of corporate communications. "We're confident that a critical mass of developers, publishers and console manufacturers will be on hand to put on an exciting event this summer."
Sony and Microsoft representatives told IGN they plan to participate in E3 this year, but both companies declined to answer specific questions about the conference's shifting role in an industry that is both expanding in scope and seeing increased consolidation among developers and publishers.
E3 has gone through a number of changes in recent years. What was once a large-scale free-for-all has become a smaller, more focused affair with attendance limited to invitees. In 2007, the event moved from the Los Angeles Convention Center to Santa Monica. This year's show, scheduled to run from July 15-17, is back at LACC.
