The E3 2008 confusion continues. Following the soon-to-be merged Activison and Vivendi Games' departure from the Entertainment Software Association and its E3 press event, we got to wondering who else might not be showing up for the annual game industry showing. The list of attendees on the (password-protected) E3 site leaves out some pretty big names, including MMO-publisher NCsoft who tells Joystiq that, though it's been an ESA member since last year, it will not be attending E3 this year because the timing of the event didn't work out for their upcoming releases. Gamespot reports that Foundation 9 won't be attending, stating, "We just didn't feel like we got enough out of the investment last year in order to justify the expense this year." Atlus also confirmed to Joystiq that, despite attending last year's summit, it too would be skipping out on E3 2008.

Gamespot confirms that other names missing from the list – Bethesda, id Software, Majesco, and D3Publisher – still plan on attending. Kotaku claims that id Software is not attending despite Gamespot's story to the contrary. We've contacted id for clarification. They also assert that Her Interactive (best known for their popular Nancy Drew games) won't be attending, though the publisher didn't attend E3 last year either. We reached out to peripheral manufacturer Nyko who said that, though they aren't listed on the official site, they will nevertheless be attending.

As for a specific reason for the absences, outside of timing and exposure, Kotaku cites several unnamed sources who pin the blame straight on current ESA pres Michael Gallagher's well-tailored lapel. Is Gallagher out of touch with the video game industry?

[Update 4:58pm: Added Atlus and Nyko details.]


Read – Activision/Vivendi leave ESA, skip E3
Read – Five Publishers Drop Out of E3 This Year, Some Blame ESA President
Read – NCsoft, Foundation 9 bypass E3 '08