Microsoft, Nvidia leave PC Gaming Alliance

The PC Gaming Alliance turned three years old last week, and the occasion was marked by the departure of multiple founding members. According to a Big Download report, Microsoft and Nvidia have parted ways with the nonprofit organization established to promote PC gaming.

Nvidia confirmed its departure for GameSpot, but offered no explanation for the move. As of press time, neither Microsoft nor the PCGA had responded to GameSpot's request for confirmation, but the official PCGA site no longer lists the Windows maker on its membership page. Additionally, PCGA president Matt Ployhar hinted at the possibility of defections in a post last week on his blog for Intel, where he works in the visual computing software division. In his blog, Ployhar explained that the consortium was formed for two reasons: to provide a voice of leadership for PC gaming and to counter the notion that PC gaming is dying.

"A few members who joined primarily for the second reason are now comfortable in saying 'mission accomplished,' and may likely depart," Ployhar wrote. "However, a large majority of our members now want to continue moving towards exploring ways to provide better leadership to the PC Gaming Ecosystem at large and use the data we've accumulated to make informed decisions to help ship better games."

According to Big Download, Ployhar told the site that the departures won't impact the PCGA. In his blog post, Ployhar said the organization was entering a second phase in its life cycle and that he expects 2011 to see the group update its mission and goals.

With the departures of Microsoft and Nvidia, the PCGA's primary promoter members consist of Capcom, Sony, Epic Games, Intel, Dell, and Razer. The group also has a dozen additional contributing companies, including GameStop, the Entertainment Merchants Association, and AMD.