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"Just in case you missed it when the news came out a few days ago, Activision Blizzard has apparently announced that they're not showing up at E3 this year.  And hot on the heels of that information came the news that both Activision and Vivendi have pulled out of the ESA, an organization that acts as the main trade association for the videogame industry.What does this mean for us as Blizzard fans?  Not much -- not only is Blizzard already running their own E3-like conventions (Blizzcon and WWI), but Activision Blizzard is apparently planning to hold a press conference on the first night of the show anyway.  Blizzard's properties have enough gusto on their own to get press with or without inclusion in a big event like E3, and it's Activision's other properties that might have to worry about exposure.As for the ESA news, who knows -- Activision Blizzard's pullout might mean a big shakeup in the way the videogame industry as a whole is represented, or (if no other companies choose to leave the ESA) it may not mean much at all.  Time will tell."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/02/activision-blizzard-ditches-e3-and-the-esa/>