ESA President Doug Lowenstein Steps Down

1up has the news that Doug Lowenstein has stepped down from his position as President of the Entertainment Software Association. In the same year as the 'retooling' of that organization's Electronics Entertainment Expo, the 12-year veteran and founder of the organization has announced his intention to leave the organization thiscoming February. Gamespot reports he's heading for a position with a trade organization for investment firms. GamePolitics, meanwhile, reconfirms that Lowenstein is not headed for the Entertainment Consumers Association, nor will ECA founder Hal Halpin be taking Lowenstein's place. From the 1up article: "Back in 1994, (Bungie was still making games for Macs, that's how long ago we're talkin'), Lowenstein founded the Interactive Digital Software Association, which one would day become our own beloved ESA. The organization's purpose wasn't to create a money-draining spectacle that would become the bane of gaming journalists' existence, but rather to serve as an advocate for antipiracy legislation. Once it became the ESA, the group's mission grew to include the support of the ESRB."

Leaving, or asked to leave?

[Aladrin]

I somehow doubt he's leaving completely of his own free will. He was president while they went from hosting the biggest entertainment expo on the planet and raking in tons of cash to hosting a small, very private almost-nothing expo that nobody cares about. Oh, and he pissed off almost every gamer world-wide.

If I was an investor in that company, I'd be screaming for his head. (I don't know if they even have investors, but when there's enough pissed-off people, it's all the same in the end.)

IANAL, but from what I remember, it's illegal to make a decision that will knowingly hurt the stockholders like that. I hope for his sake, and the rest of the company, that they do NOT have stockholders.