Activision decides not to bother with E3

Games publisher Activision has revealed that it won’t be attending the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) this year. The company has released a statement to a number of sources that “After careful consideration, for business reasons Activision has decided not to participate in any official E3 activities.”

E3 is scheduled for July 15th and 17th at the LA Convention Centre, US.

Arguably, one publisher opting out of one conference isn’t a big deal, but E3 has been suffering a bit of an identity crisis since last year when its organisers chose to scale down the once gigantic spectacle into something more manageable and only open to those invited.

The fact that Activision’s Vivendi merger is about to make it into the biggest games publisher in the world makes this an even bigger blow for the event.

While this could be seen as the beginning of the end for the expo and a blow to the industry in general, many other shows have stepped up to try and take its place. It’s early days yet admittedly, but few others have felt like they can truly fill the void.

It is also seeming more and more likely that big publishers will stick to hosting their own events instead of competing for floor space with all their rivals. The real shame of that is that smaller companies are getting less and less platforms to make themselves know from.

Activision (via MCV)

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