EA hope for strong ESA

Activision and Vivendi moves cause concern

In the wake of Activision and Vivendi's decision to pull out of the ESA North American trade body (along with LucasArts a few days later), the organisation behind the E3 show, Electronic Arts has slammed the firms' lack of strong management.

"I think having [Activision and Vivendi] pull out of the ESA reflects an unfortunate lack of leadership," communications chief Jeff Brown offered.

"They’re a big company and we feel that when you’re a big company you’ve got a responsibility to consumers to work on policy issues which are very, very important to consumers. And the best way to do that is with an industry consensus. That’s the way it’s been done with the ESA in the US, and with ELSPA in the UK."

Brown insisted that EA would not also quit ESA, but did urge the body to promote the benefits of membership.

"There’s always tensions inside these organisations, but for the most part it works," he concluded. "So it was sad to see them step away from that responsibility. We hope that others don’t do that, but I think that the onus is on the ESA to prove that membership in it is good for the company and good for consumers. And I think we’re going to see the ESA redouble its efforts to prove that."

By Luke Guttridge