id Software Leaves the ESA

id Software has become the latest company to leave the Entertainment Software Association, bringing into question the ability of the association to survive in the face of a growing exodus.

GamePolitics has reported on the departure, saying it has confirmed through a representative that the creator of Doom and Quake has dropped its membership, and id is no longer listed as a member on the ESA website. Neither the ESA nor id have commented on the matter.

id's split from the group follows the departure earlier this week of LucasArts, and of Activision and Vivendi early in May. The day after the LucasArts announcement, Electronic Arts leveled criticism at the ESA, calling for more "leadership" from the organization. According to the GP report, there are rumors of other, unnamed companies planning to leave the group in the near future.

UPDATE: Rich Taylor, senior vice president of communications and research at the ESA, has issued the following statement:

"We can confirm that id Software has decided not to renew its membership in the ESA. We admire their creativity and innovation. We also respect their decision."

"The ESA continues to lead the thriving video and computer game industry. We are dedicated to protecting intellectual property, preserving First Amendment rights and fostering a beneficial environment for the entire entertainment software industry."

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Yeesh. That about sums it up.

Doh!

Wasn't Quake 4 in the PC World Bargain bin though? No big hitters yet...

wonder which member will assume the role of the violin players performing on last tune

Actually, can anyone please fill me in on why so many companies are leaving the ESA?

Nobody knows, but the assumption at this point is that companies just don't feel they're getting their money's worth from membership. Where Doug Lowenstein was a very savvy and high-profile representative of the industry, Mike Gallagher has been far more low-key. It's not to say he hasn't done anything, but rather that nobody is sure exactly what he's done because nobody ever hears from the guy. Lowenstein made it a point to speak at every E3 almost since its inception; Gallagher didn't speak at his first E3 as president last year, and he's skipping out on this year's event as well. Things like that make people wonder. Some guys are great administrators, but a position like this one needs a leader.

There's also the $5 million relocation debacle from last year (here) which many people think exacerbated the situation through resulting increased membership fees, the fact that the ESA was nowhere to be found during the GTA IV launch, the Fox News lies about Mass Effect, etc., criticism from both game companies (here) and analysts (here), all of which adds up to these companies questioning where their money is going. At that point, a few big guns jumping ship may be enough to push the rest over as well.

The thing is, none of the companies who have left have commented on precisely why, and the ESA issues essentially the same blanket statement with a different company name inserted each time it happens. So nobody really knows for sure, and until the ESA collapses completely it'll probably stay that way.

"The ESA continues to lead the thriving video and computer game industry. We are dedicated to protecting intellectual property, preserving First Amendment rights and fostering a beneficial environment for the entire entertainment software industry."

Continues to lead the industry? One big one left, and the other 2 that left are high profile in name. I think they won't be leading much of anything if this keeps up, which is a shame really, because the industry needs an organisation (or lobby if you will) to stand up against all the anti game bashing.

Then again, maybe it's time to rebuild said organisation from scratch.

The only major concern I would have about the dissolution of the ESA is if the ESRB is impacted, which- admittedly- would only impact Americans. (For the record, I don't think it will be.) There are already people calling for government oversight on video game ratings, if not an outright usurpation of the responsibility, and if the ESA falls apart, it could be used as 'proof' to justify the government to step in.

And then we'd likely be in the same boat as our opressed bretheren Down Under.

Ding dong, the witch is dead...

Ah, the crumble of a censorship and morality-enforcement board. Dibs on pissing on their grave once buried.

GO id!

Wow. The ESA's been getting hit hard lately eh?

Really though, When's id going to pump out a new game? They're the kings of the FPS genre god-dammit!

Man...solidstatemind you could have wait 2 more days, so your asnwer could have come a full year late. ^^

solidstatemind:
The only major concern I would have about the dissolution of the ESA is if the ESRB is impacted, which- admittedly- would only impact Americans. (For the record, I don't think it will be.) There are already people calling for government oversight on video game ratings, if not an outright usurpation of the responsibility, and if the ESA falls apart, it could be used as 'proof' to justify the government to step in.

And then we'd likely be in the same boat as our opressed bretheren Down Under.

This.

I forsee the US government stepping it's muddy, unkempt shoes in all kinds of things soon. I'd prefer they stay out of my video games.