ESA Announces Exhibitor List for E3 2009, Activision-Blizzard to Attend

Zach Lott — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:43:21 -0600

After pulling out of the ESA and holding its own media event last year, Activision-Blizzard is headed back to E3, according to the current list of exhibitors for the 2009 event on the official E3 website.

Activision-Blizzard isn't rejoining the ESA, but it seems that they've managed to come to terms with the organization after an abrupt exit last year over reported displeasure with CEO Mike Gallagher.

Also, Joystiq is reporting that NCsoft will once again miss the event.

"While NCsoft has been a member of the ESA in the past, we are not currently an ESA member and do not expect to attend E3 this year. We will continue to evaluate how E3 fits into NCsoft's plans each year," a representative told the gaming blog.

The show will be held from June 2-4, so stay tuned for future announcements from the ESA and exhibitors. Hit the jump for a list of companies expected to attend.

Activision Blizzard, Inc.
Atari, Inc.
Atlus U.S.A., Inc.
Bethesda Softworks LLC
Capcom Entertainment, Inc.
Disney Interactive Studios, Inc.
Eidos Interactive
Electronic Arts, Inc.
Epic Games, Inc.
505 Games
IndieCade
KOEI Corporation
Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC
Majesco Entertainment Company
Microsoft Corporation
Midway Games Inc.
MTV Games
Namco Bandai Games America Inc.
Nintendo of America, Inc.
Rebellion
Sega of America, Inc.
Serious Games
Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.
Sony Online Entertainment LLC
Square Enix, Inc.
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.
THQ Inc.
Ubisoft Entertainment
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Inc.

Activision, Vivendi, Others Pull Out of E3

Zach Lott — Sat, 03 May 2008 11:12:22 -0500

E3 has been much smaller and focused since it became invite-only last year, but things are about to shrink even more, as Kotaku, Joystiq, and Gamespot have all made varying reports that several publishers have decided not to attend this year's show.

Kotaku kicked things off by reporting that Vivendi, Activision, Her Interactive, NCSoft, and id Software are pulling out of E3 this year. Soon after, Gamespot reported that id is attending and that Foundation 9 is joining the list of absent publishers. However, they have since declared id's status to be "unclear." Also, Joystiq reported that RPG behemoth Atlus has dropped out as well.

Vivendi and Activision's decision comes with news that they have dropped out of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), which runs E3, leading analysts to speculate that they are unhappy with the orginization's president, Mike Gallagher. He has been criticized for being "less knowledgeable and sophisticated about this industry than Doug [Lowenstein, former ESA president]" by Michael Pachter, an analyst for Wedbush Morgan. Kotaku's other sources agree that Gallagher's actions are involved with the publishers' decision.

However, the other publishers haven't left the organization, with NCSoft telling Kotaku that the decision not attend E3 came from their development cycle and had nothing to do with the ESA.

Foundation 9's decision, according to Gamespot, also has nothing to do with the ESA. "... exhibiting at E3 is just not something that fits with our marketing strategy this year," said a representative for the publisher. The rep also stated that some of their employees may still attend, but that the company is "not investing in the exhibit space."

Also, it was noted by Joystiq that an Activision representative told them that the company will not partake in "official E3 activities," meaning that the company might maintain a "presence" at this year's show. They will also have a non-E3 event on the first day of the show, according to Kotaku.

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ESA Announces Exhibitor List for E3 2009, Activision-Blizzard to Attend

Activision, Vivendi, Others Pull Out of E3