EA Claims ESA Dropouts Show ESA’s “Lack of Leadership”

With three major publishers having left the ESA recently, one has to wonder what has caused this sudden change. Analysts speculated that at least some of the the blame could be placed upon the president of the ESA, Mike Gallagher. At a recent event, EA’s Jeff Brown shared his thoughts on the matter.

“I think having [Activision and Vivendi] pull out of the ESA reflects an unfortunate lack of leadership,” he told GI.biz.

“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 insists that EA won’t be suddenly pulling out from the ESA, but he does believe the ESA needs to do something to prevent others from following in the footsteps of Activision and Vivendi.

“There’s always tensions inside these organizations, but for the most part it works,” he insisted. “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.”