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id bids ESA adieu

By Tom Magrino, GameSpotPosted May 23, 2008 1:53 pm PT

Doom maker confirms it has left E3 show runners and gaming-industry trade body, following long-standing publisher Activision, Vivendi, and LucasArts.

More ill tidings today for the runners of the E3 Media & Business Summit. GameSpot has confirmed with id Software that it will not be renewing its membership with gaming-industry representative body the Entertainment Software Association. Following initial confusion over id's E3 presence, the ESA revealed earlier this week by omission that id Software had yet to sign on to this year's show, which runs July 15-17 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Earlier this month, longtime id Software publisher Activision and its soon-to-be-merged partner Vivendi Games initiated the ESA exodus by revealing that they would not be renewing their membership dues and had no intention of attending this year's show. Activision Blizzard was then followed out the door by LucasArts, though the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed publisher said that it still plans on attending the ESA's annual gaming exhibition.

Speculation over what has inspired the growing unrest over the ESA reached a fever pitch earlier this week when it was revealed through tax documents that the lobbying group had paid nearly $5.4 million in event-cancellation fees to move E3 from LA to Santa Monica in 2007. The IRS filing also indicated that ESA membership fees had spiked from about $1 million in 2006 to roughly $4.5 million in 2007 as a result of the dramatic downscaling of its revenue-generating trade show.

The ESA had not responded to requests for comment concerning id's departure as of press time.

131 Comments

  • Fumpa

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 7:29 am PT

    What the heck is up with that insane membership fee?

  • CCyberDDemon

    Posted Jun 2, 2008 11:45 am PT

    bad news indeed

  • Nawras

    Posted Jun 2, 2008 12:35 am PT

    Sad news. I live on the other side of the world and was never able to afford the trip to E3. The year I was able to, the show got downsized.

  • Mega-Tom

    Posted May 28, 2008 5:30 am PT

    Thats a shame. Old E3 ftw such a brillient show.

  • CageFury

    Posted May 27, 2008 3:26 pm PT

    I think a big part of the magic of E3 was putting the sheer size and force of the gaming industry on display, and by "downsizing" they pretty much screwed that up. I really hope they can do something to bring back the spark, I miss the insanity.

  • McBainburger

    Posted May 27, 2008 1:21 pm PT

    one thing to keep in mind is that ESA represents the publishers.. So the ultimate decision to scale down E3 was all up the publisher's doing... NOT ESA. With that said, the increase in dues was all ESA's fault.

  • furionpride

    Posted May 27, 2008 11:37 am PT

    This is depressing...

  • Lord_Foortwenti

    Posted May 27, 2008 11:27 am PT

    What a mess...

    This is nothing but bad for the industry as a whole. The ESA are the ones that fight unconstitutional anti-gaming legislation when it pops up, and handles many other behind-the-scenes going-ons.

    That being said, it's really no wonder publishers and devs are starting to leave the trade-group. They took the most popular, highly anticipated video game trade show, and totally destroyed it. I mean, yeah, some publishers and devs were complaining about it, but many more complained about the downsized E3 b/c it was scattered all over, and was very confusing. Then, it's revealed that they spent all that money just to cancel the previous arrangements, and as a direct result, had to increase membership dues by almost 450%....wow.

    I wonder if there will be a new trade-group formed, or what's gonna happen, but it certainly isn't looking good for the ESA

  • Get_Shorty

    Posted May 27, 2008 10:15 am PT

    What a way to muck things up. Why try to fix something that wasn't broken.

  • Hvac0120

    Posted May 27, 2008 9:35 am PT

    Wow! In one year they jumped the membership fee $3.5 million. That is insane! I think the publishers would have rather paid for the booth space and dealt with the huge crowd of the old E3's. At least, then all the crazy people stuck in lines buying soda's and swag would pay those extra costs.

    I can see why a lot of company's have left. It may be in the ESA's best interest to go back (mostly) to the old E3 format. They could still do the media and business meetings in private areas, but they could get money on admission and other stuff.

  • juddstudd

    Posted May 27, 2008 9:32 am PT

    lol whos left on the ESA now?

  • mrkame16

    Posted May 27, 2008 9:26 am PT

    The IRS filing also indicated that ESA membership fees had spiked from about $1 million in 2006 to roughly $4.5 million in 2007 as a result of the dramatic downscaling....so you down scale and have the nerve to charge 3.5 million more in fees in a year?? whos running this Hustle i want in.

  • bardkieran

    Posted May 27, 2008 7:16 am PT

    Totally agree with Fireburger's post. Sounds like an excellent plan

  • zeus_gb

    Posted May 27, 2008 6:16 am PT

    Another company votes with it's feet. This years E3 isn't looking too good but there's still plenty of developers/publishers that'll be there.

  • jmartin1016

    Posted May 27, 2008 5:42 am PT

    Yeah it's doomed. $4.5 million to show a few people a video or a demo. Yeah E3 doesn't stand a chance.

  • hunter8man

    Posted May 27, 2008 5:15 am PT

    Too bad. I knew that downsizing E3 was going to be nothing but trouble, and I really missed the hype that the event used to gather. After this year, I think you're going to start seeing E3 slowy drift into nothingness.

  • the3game

    Posted May 27, 2008 4:45 am PT

    Rest in pieces E3... lol

  • retrofraction12

    Posted May 27, 2008 4:30 am PT

    Who needs E3 when you have the internet?

  • Mauller

    Posted May 27, 2008 3:58 am PT

    E3 is dead. PAX is the new E3 and it will be more loved than E3 ever was because it's for the gamers. We're the ones that drive the industry.

  • g_plowking

    Posted May 27, 2008 3:09 am PT

    A couple of weeks before a game is due is more than enough time for me to check up on it, see vids and decide if I want it or not.

    These days we don't really need E3 showing us games that won't be out for another year.

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