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NCsoft to sell all shares of NC Interactive, establish new American subsidiary
Big things are afoot at NCsoft according to a couple of articles recently published by Reuters. The first piece claims that the Korean gaming giant will "sell its entire 809 million shares of NC Interactive Inc.," which serves as the company's online gaming arm. A second article states that NCsoft will establish a new American entity which will be "mainly engaged in the management of the United States and Europe subsidiaries," also on December 24th. [Thanks to TwinGilgamesh for the tip!]
NC Interactive leaves the ESA
It looks like the Entertainment Software Association has struck another company from their membership page. GamePolitics has confirmed with ESA Senior VP Rich Taylor that NCsoft's US division, NC Interactive, has joined a list of 6 other companies that parted ways with the ESA in 2008:We can confirm that NCsoft decided not to renew its ESA membership. We respect their decision and remain committed to serving the public affairs needs of the computer and video game industry.NC Interactive's departure will mean that they don't have to fork up any more hefty membership fees, which GamePolitics initially saw as the most likely reason behind the split -- they mention that the company also shied away from an appearance at this year's E3. In a follow-up, NC insists that their financial situation has nothing to do with their decision to leave the organization.Although some big names like Activision, Vivendi and LucasArts are among the companies that left the ESA in 2008, they still have most of the industry's important players, such as Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, and EA. Now, if 2009 goes anything like this year, then we might start to have doubts about the ESA's future -- but there's something to be said for the current financial climate, and their situation might improve a little further down the track.
