Entertainment Software Association
Formerly | Interactive Digital Software Association (1994–2003) |
---|---|
Company type | 501(c)(6) non-profit organization |
Industry | Video games |
Founded | April 1994 |
Headquarters | Washington, D.C., U.S. |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Stanley Pierre-Louis (president & CEO) |
Website | www |
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) is the trade association of the video game industry in the United States. It was formed in April 1994 as the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA)[1] and renamed on July 21, 2003. It is based in Washington, D.C.[2][3] Most of the top publishers in the gaming world (or their American subsidiaries) are members of the ESA.
The ESA also organized the annual
History
The concept of the IDSA/ESA arose from the
The IDSA formally renamed itself to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) on July 21, 2003. The renaming was made to reflect that the associated companies were primarily in the realm of creating entertainment software across ranges of devices, and the new name was selected to more clearly define the industry.[8] Doug Lowenstein founded the ESA.[9] On December 14, 2006, game blog Kotaku reported[10] that he was resigning to take a job in finance outside the industry. On May 17, 2007, Mike Gallagher replaced Doug Lowenstein as the president of the ESA.[11]
In 2019,
Activities
In addition to overseeing the ESRB, the ESA organized the
The ESA leads in confronting legislation that would be harmful to the video game industry, particularly related to video game rating controversies under the ESRB, and encouraging legislation that would be beneficial to the industry. Of note, the ESA was one plaintiff in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, a Supreme Court case that judged that video games were protected works under the First Amendment in 2012,[16] and helped get entertainment software included in the Information Technology Agreement of 1996.[1]
The ESA also engages in
Gregory Boyd, chairman of the Interactive Entertainment Group at the New York law firm stated, “When it comes to lobbying, the "main industry group" that individual companies defer to is the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), which spent $4.83 million on its own in 2012 — more than Facebook, Google, or even the National Rifle Association (NRA)."[22]
The ESA also works to combat and reduce copyright infringement of video game-related works for the companies it represents. This is typically done through sending takedown or cease and desist notices to sites hosting infringing work, and working with search engines like Google to delist sites that host infringing files. They also work with law enforcement agencies to train agents how to handle copyright infringement.[23]
ESA has spoken in favor of the loot box mechanics, arguing that it does not constitute gambling.[24]
Criticism and controversies
On August 3, 2019, it had been found that an unsecured list of personal attendee data was publicly accessible from the ESA's site. The list contained the information of over 2000 people, most of them being the press and social media influencers that had attended E3 2019. ESA removed the list after its public visible was found, and apologized for allowing the information to become public.[25] However, using similar techniques to access the 2019 data, users found similar dates for over 6000 attendees of past E3 events that were still available on user-authenticated portions of their website; these too were subsequently pulled by ESA once notified.[26]
References
- ^ Imagine Media. September 1997. pp. 12–17.
- ^ Nonprofit Report for ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE ASSOCIATION Archived 2013-06-29 at archive.today. Guidestar.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-23.
- ^ The Entertainment Software Association - Contact Us. Theesa.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-23.
- ^ The Entertainment Software Association - Become an ESA Member Archived 2013-06-24 at archive.today. Theesa.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-23.
- Condé Nast Publications. Archivedfrom the original on February 18, 2014. Retrieved June 1, 2011.
- ^ a b Buckley, Sean (June 6, 2013). "Then there were three: Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and the evolution of the Electronic Entertainment Expo". Engadget. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
- ^ Kohler, Chris (July 29, 2009). "July 29, 1994: Videogame Makers Propose Ratings Board to Congress". Wired. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
- ^ Calvert, Justin (July 21, 2003). "IDSA renamed ESA". GameSpot. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
- ^ Illinois Ordered to Pay ESA Half Million Archived 2006-08-21 at the Wayback Machine by Daemon Hatfield, IGN Entertainment, 2006-08-10
- ^ Rumor:ESA President is Quitting(archived) by Brian Crecente, Kotaku, 2006-12-14
- ^ ESA selects new president by Brendan Sinclair, GameSpot, 2007-05-17
- ^ a b c Crecente, Brian (2019-05-10). "Inside the Disarray Facing the Video Game Organization Behind E3". Variety. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
- ^ McWhertor, Michael (October 3, 2018). "Head of E3 operator and lobbying group, The ESA, steps down". Polygon. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
- Gamasutra. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
- ^ Park, Gene (December 12, 2023). "E3, once gaming's biggest expo, is officially dead". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
- ^ "Schwarzenegger v. EMA" (PDF). supremecourt.gov. 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
- ^ GamePolitics ESA Spent $1.1 Million in Q1 for Lobbying
- ^ TGDaily ESA spent $1.1M on lobbying fees
- ^ Gamasutra ESA Spent Record $4.2 Million Lobbying In 2008
- ^ Lenhardt, Heinrich (January 17, 2012). "SOPA Controversy Creates Rival to Game Industry Group ESA; LFG Aims to Be 'the NRA for Gamers'". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on October 8, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
- ^ "Entertainment Software Association withdraws SOPA, PIPA support". Digital Spy. 2012-01-20.
- ^ LeJacq, Yannick. "'Call of Duty' maker gears up against 'violent video games' bill." NBC news. 2013-09-11
- ^ Rougeau, Michael (May 29, 2013). "ESA Nails 5 Million for Copyright Infringement". Digital Trends. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
- ^ Schreier, Jason. "U.S. Senator Introduces Bill To Ban Loot Boxes And Pay-To-Win Microtransactions". Kotaku. Retrieved 2019-05-10.
- GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
- ^ Gera, Emily (August 5, 2019). "E3 organisers previously leaked over 6000 more names". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved August 5, 2019.