NCsoft has become the seventh company to leave the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), creators and organizers of E3. Other memorable leavings from this summer include Activision and Vivendi (before the merger).

"We can confirm that NCsoft decided not to renew its ESA membership," ESA senior VP Rich Taylor told news site GamePolitics. "We respect their decision and remain committed to serving the public affairs needs of the computer and video game industry."

The most likely reason for NCSoft to leave would be financial problems. The ESA is quite an exclusive little club, and it's membership fees are nothing to sneeze at. NCsoft has seen it's profits be cut in half this year, due only partly to the slow creeping demise of Tabula Rasa. This means that once the Korean Government's investment is in full force, NCsoft might return.

But the larger issue here might be a lesson for the ESA. It's membership, originally 28 members at the start of the year, has now dropped by 25%. With the practical death of their show E3 (at their own hands), and now a dwindling membership, perhaps they need to take a close look at themselves and decide what they really are. While E3 isn't the only thing the ESA does, maybe it was the only thing that it's members were willing to pay for.

UPDATED: An official statement has been released about NCsoft's decision to leave the ESA:

While we appreciate what the ESA does for our industry, we can confirm that NCsoft has elected not to keep membership with the ESA for 2009.

This decision was not financially motivated, as indicated in your story. There have been many changes in the gaming industry over the past couple of years and, like other developers and publishers, we have decided to wait to see how related industry events and organizations further develop before rejoining. We will be reviewing our membership status on an annual basis.