The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) just lost themselves another member. Game Politics brought us news yesterday that Crave Entertainment has left the ESA's membership body, following the departures last month of Activision, id Software, LucasArts, and Vivendi.
Crave's official statement is that the move wasn't political, but rather, to let them focus on selling the company. id's Todd Hollenshead gave much the same story to GamesIndustry.biz with an "other commitments" excuse. And Vivendi's Jose Zavala, Manager, Corporate Communications, stayed on message as well:
"After careful consideration, Vivendi Games has decided not to renew its ESA membership for business reasons. We appreciate the work that the ESA has done over the years in promoting the interactive entertainment Industry with state and federal governments."
While most of the big players like Microsoft, Nintendo, and Disney Interactive are still ESA members and have remained mum, EA's VP of Corporate Communications Jeff Brown wasn't shy, blasting the members of last month's exodus with a "you have a bigger responsibility to the industry" guilt trip.
It feels like something is afoot, but no one is willing to speak to it. All the companies surveyed had very similar messages, and none were willing to respond when asked what would or could lure them back.
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