Activision Blizzard, Acer Leave PC Gaming Alliance

Online reports suggest that Activision Blizzard has left the PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA), with the publisher’s name and logo being removed from the organization’s website. Although no official announcement has yet been made, blog site Kotaku claims to have confirmed the exit, with a PCGA spokesperson commenting that "a few members have decided they cannot justify the budget (membership and staff) required to maintain an active role in the PC Gaming Alliance at this time." Activision, shortly after its merger with Vivendi Games, was a founding member of the PCGA in early 2008. The Alliance is a non-profit organization consisting of game publishers, developers and hardware manufacturers interested in promoting the PC as a games platform. The PCGA announced restructuring in December, saying it would lower the barrier to membership and introduce a new cost structure. At the same time the organization called for more engagement from the development community. The majority of the PCGA’s support now comes from hardware manufacturers such as Intel, AMD, NVidia, Dell and Logitech – as well as publisher and developers such as Microsoft, Capcom and Epic Games. Gamasutra has contacted the PCGA for more details and will update with any comment we receive. [UPDATE: PCGA head Randy Stude, who is also director of Intel's Gaming Program Office, confirmed to Gamasutra that Activision Blizzard has departed, also revealing that PC maker Acer has left the trade group. However, Stude made sure to note along the way, "In this same time period we have added gaming market leaders such as GameStop, Sony [DADC] and Digital River." In addition, later reports from sites including BigDownload have clarified that it is SecuROM creator and Sony division Sony DADC which has recently joined up with the PC Gaming Alliance.]