Activision, Vivendi Pull Out Of ESA, E3 2008

"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."

And with its deals with China Activision/Vivendi has given up on those ideals.

lol, why do people keep thinking blizzard is making a D3, when they already have two big ticket items on their dev-plate? if anything it will be WotLK then SC2 and only after those two will they even think of doing a D3.

fact i wouldn't be surprised to see a Starcraft MMO to finish running that game into the ground before they start on a D3 and then a Diablo MMO.

i personally foresee Blizzard making each of their 3 big titles into MMOs [2 now that they made warcraft into an MMO]

announce diablo 3 + gameplay demos on the event that activision will host and no one would attend E3's first night...

I think its that Vivendi/Activison are now acting like the full blown 800 pound gorilla and simply going about their way of doing business. Give this whole scenario a few years when WoW has lived out is life cycle and lets come back and see who this whole mess turns out.

Good I say. The ESA is a useless organization. What value has it had since its creation in 1994? A few good E3's? I'll give it that, but E3 is pretty much a joke now. Unveil a console, show a few games off, and then they all get shown off at some other convention.

Eh, I see no harm at all from this. I'm glad Activison/Vivendi will have their own thing too. I can just imagine that the ESA said they couldn't unveil all they wanted like D3, more SC2, WotLK, and some other super top secret program they have all at once. Mmmmm, wishful thinking, tastes like chicken.

Can't we all just get along........ For the games....for the games

/popcorn

"Activision will apparently instead be hosting their own press event on the first night of the E3 event, with various other press events also likely during the week of the show – including the traditional annual media briefings from Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft."

Ouch. Fight night? Blizzard is probably gonna announce their next big game (*cough* diablo3 *cough*) on that first night...that or new WoW info. Should steal quite a bit of E3's steam.

I wonder what "business reasons" caused them to pull out of ESA?

Considering that Activision and Vivendi are very big gaming publishers makes it very sad to know that they will no longer be a part of ESA. What a bummer.

Feel the Drama