Entertainment Software Association

Last updated
Entertainment Software Association
FormerlyInteractive Digital Software Association (1994–2003)
Company type 501(c)(6) non-profit organization
Industry Video games
FoundedApril 1994;29 years ago (1994-04)
Headquarters Washington, D.C., U.S.
Area served
United States
Key people
Stanley Pierre-Louis (President & CEO)
Website www.theesa.com

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.

Contents

The ESA also organized the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) trade expo in Los Angeles, California. The ESA's policy is based by member companies serving on the ESA's three Working Groups: [4] "Intellectual Property Working Group", "Public Policy Committee" and "Public Relations Working Group".

History

The concept of the IDSA/ESA arose from the controversies that the violence depicted in the video game Mortal Kombat drew. This led to a United States Congress hearing in late 1993, where the video game industry was put under scrutiny for the level of violence in games like Mortal Kombat and Night Trap . During these hearings, Sega and Nintendo blamed the other for the situation, citing differences in how they would rate the content of games for players. Following the hearings, Congressman Joe Lieberman proposed the Video Game Ratings Act of 1994, which would have set a government-overseen commission to establish a ratings system for video games, and threatened to push it through legislation if the video game industry did not voluntarily come up with one of its own. Recognizing the threat of government oversight, the companies decided to establish the IDSA to be a unified front and represent all video game companies at this level, and subsequently developed the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) to create a voluntary but standardized rating approach to video games. At first, Sega proposed to IDSA that they wanted to use the Videogame Rating Council ratings, but Nintendo turned down the proposal, fearing it was out of place. [5] In July 1994, IDSA representatives returned to Congress to present the ESRB, which Congress accepted and became the standard for the American industry. [6] [7]

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, Variety reported that Gallagher had lost the confidence of the board of directors over a number of related issues in the preceding years. His office was characterized as a toxic work environment in which he pitted his subordinates against each other and sent them belittling messages. He also fired an experienced high-level employee in favor of a new employee he preferred. With the 2016 election of Donald Trump, Gallagher attempted to publicly align the ESA with Trump's policies, such as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which was unpopular with members of the association. Robert A. Altman and Phil Spencer, then the chair and vice-chair of the board, respectively, spearheaded an internal investigation into Gallagher's conduct. [12] Gallagher announced on October 3, 2018, that he would be stepping down as president; then ESA senior vice-president Stanley Pierre-Louis served as interim president during ESA's search for a permanent replacement. [13] In the end, ESA opted to elect Pierre-Louis as the permanent president and CEO in May 2019. [14]

Activities

In addition to overseeing the ESRB, the ESA organized the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). After the IDSA's formation, the video game industry became concerned over the treatment they had received at recent Consumer Electronic Shows and were seeking another trade show venue. The IDSA partnered with International Data Group (IDG) to organize the first E3, held in May 1995 in Los Angeles. The first E3 proved more successful than originally expected, and the IDSA negotiated with the IDG to take ownership of E3 and its intellectual property, with the IDG serving to help handle execution of the event. [6] In a 1997 interview, IDSA president Doug Lowenstein said E3 is also the primary source of income for the IDSA. [1] In 2016, revenues from running E3 accounted for about 48% of the organization's annual budget, with another 37% coming from membership dues. [12] Some member companies criticized the ESA for its split focus between producing E3 and acting as a legislative advocacy group, with neither focus receiving adequate attention. Following the high profile withdrawals of companies like Sony and Electronic Arts from attending E3, the direction of E3 was called into question, with some members advocating for the business of running E3 to be split out into a separate company. [12] The ESA ultimately discontinued E3 in December 2023. [15]

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 government lobbying at the state and federal level. [1] According to a Bloomberg report, the ESA spent approximately $1.1 million in the first quarter of 2011 on lobbying efforts in Washington D.C. [17] [18] [19] The ESA has initially been a proponent of the proposed anti-piracy SOPA and PIPA legislation, Red 5 Studios CEO Mark Kern founded the League For Gamers (LFG), a rival trade organization, in response. [20] In January 2012, the ESA dropped its support for both SOPA and PIPA, while calling on Congress to craft a more balanced copyright approach. [21]

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]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E3</span> American video game industry event (1995–2021)

E3 was an annual trade event for the video game industry organized and presented by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). It was held principally in Los Angeles from 1995 to 2019, with its final iteration held virtually in 2021. The event hosted developers, publishers, hardware manufacturers, and other industry professionals who used the occasion to introduce and advertise upcoming games, hardware, and merchandise to the press. During its existence, E3 was the world's largest and most prestigious annual gaming expo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Entertainment Software Rating Board</span> North American self-regulatory organization

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings to consumer video games in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, and Latin America. The ESRB was established in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Association, in response to criticism of controversial video games with excessively violent or sexual content, particularly after the 1993 congressional hearings following the releases of Mortal Kombat and Night Trap for home consoles and Doom for home computers. The industry, pressured with potential government oversight of video game ratings from these hearings, established both the IDSA and the ESRB within it to create a voluntary rating system based on the Motion Picture Association of America film rating system with additional considerations for video game interactivity.

2003 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Tony Hawk's Underground, Madden NFL 2004, NBA Live 2004, ESPN NBA Basketball, Final Fantasy X-2, Mario Kart: Double Dash, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Sonic Heroes, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, and WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain. New intellectual properties included Beyond Good & Evil, Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand, Call of Duty, Disgaea, Drakengard, Manhunt, PlanetSide, TrackMania, True Crime: Streets of LA, and Viewtiful Joe.

In video games, censorship are efforts by an authority to limit access, censor content, or regulate video games or specific video games due to the nature of their content. Some countries will do this to protect younger audiences from inappropriate content using rating systems such as the ESRB rating system. Others will do this to censor any negative outlook on a nation's government.

The Videogame Rating Council (V.R.C.) was introduced by Sega of America in 1993 to rate all video games that were released for sale in the United States and Canada on the Master System, Genesis, Game Gear, Sega CD, 32X, and Pico. The rating had to be clearly displayed on the front of the box, but their appearance in advertisements for the video game was strictly optional. It was later supplanted by the industry-wide Entertainment Software Rating Board.

Douglas Lowenstein is the founder and former president of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). He resigned on February 12, 2007 to head up the newly formed Private Equity Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Gallagher (political advisor)</span> American businessman and political advisor

Michael D. Gallagher is an American businessman and political advisor. He held positions in the George W. Bush White House, including in the United States Department of Commerce. He was the president and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association, the trade association representing the computer and video game industry from 2007 until 2018. He is now the CEO of the Washington Policy Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GamePolitics.com</span> Blogging site

GamePolitics.com was a blog which covered the politics of computer and video games. GamePolitics was launched by freelance journalist Dennis McCauley in March 2005. At the time, McCauley was the video game columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer, a position he held from 1998 to 2009. Growing somewhat bored of writing video game reviews, McCauley created GamePolitics in order to track the political, legal and cultural impact of video games. The site was often referred to as GP by followers.

The Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA) was a United States-based non-profit organization dedicated to serving the business interests of leading retailers that sell Interactive entertainment software. Member companies of the IEMA collectively accounted for approximately seventy-five percent of the $10 billion annual interactive entertainment business in the United States. The association was established in 1997 by Hal Halpin, its president and founder, and counts among its member companies the largest retailers of games including Walmart, Target Corporation, Blockbuster Entertainment and Circuit City. The IEMA also sponsored an important annual trade show in the promotion of the business of the video game industry called the "Executive Summit".

Gregory Edmund Fischbach is an American Internet entrepreneur, attorney, business executive, co-founder of video communication and content sharing company Rabbit and video game publisher Acclaim Entertainment (1987), he had managed the company for 16 years as the CEO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Truth in Video Game Rating Act</span>

The United States Truth in Video Game Rating Act (S.3935) was a failed bill that was introduced by then Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) on September 26, 2006. The act would require the ESRB to have access to the full content of and hands-on time with the games it was to rate, rather than simply relying on the video demonstrations submitted by developers and publishers. In addition, the ESRB would become oversighted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and the Federal Trade Commission would define details of content for the ESRB ratings. Brownback said of the bill's introduction, "The current video game ratings system needs improvement because reviewers do not see the full content of games and don’t even play the games they are supposed to rate. For video game ratings to be meaningful and worthy of a parent’s trust, the game ratings must be more objective and accurate."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Entertainment Consumers Association</span> Non-profit organization

Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) is a United States-based non-partisan, non-government, non-profit organization dedicated to the interests of individuals who play computer and video games in the United States and Canada.

Don James is an American video game executive, and currently serves as the executive vice president of operations for Nintendo of America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Entertainment for All</span> Former public video game trade show

Entertainment for All Expo or E for All was a public video game trade show, created to allow the general public to see and experience new products from the video game industry. The inaugural E for All Expo was open October 18 to October 21, 2007, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The Second E For All Convention took place from October 3 through October 5, 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, 564 U.S. 786 (2011), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court that struck down a 2005 California law banning the sale of certain violent video games to children without parental supervision. In a 7–2 decision, the Court affirmed the lower court decisions and nullified the law, ruling that video games were protected speech under the First Amendment as other forms of media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Video games in the United States</span> Overview of the video game system in America

Video gaming in the United States is one of the fastest-growing entertainment industries in the country. The American video game industry is the largest video game industry in the world. According to a 2020 study released by the Entertainment Software Association, the yearly economic output of the American video game industry in 2019 was $90.3 billion, supporting over 429,000 American jobs. With an average yearly salary of about $121,000, the latter figure includes over 143,000 individuals who are directly employed by the video game business. Additionally, activities connected to the video game business generate $12.6 billion in federal, state, and local taxes each year. World Economic Forum estimates that by 2025 the American gaming industry will reach $42.3 billion while worldwide gaming industry will possibly reach US$270 billion. The United States is one of the nations with the largest influence in the video game industry, with video games representing a significant part of its economy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stop Online Piracy Act</span> Failed United States bill

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was a proposed United States congressional bill to expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement to combat online copyright infringement and online trafficking in counterfeit goods. Introduced on October 26, 2011, by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX), provisions included the requesting of court orders to bar advertising networks and payment facilities from conducting business with infringing websites, and search engines from linking to the websites, and court orders requiring Internet service providers to block access to the websites. The proposed law would have expanded existing criminal laws to include unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content, imposing a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E3 1995</span> First annual Electronic Entertainment Expo

The Electronic Entertainment Expo 1995, commonly known as E3 1995, was the first Electronic Entertainment Expo held. The event took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center from May 11–13, 1995, with 50,000 total attendees. Highlights of the 1995 show include Sony's announcement of the PlayStation's release date and pricing, Sega's surprise launch of the Sega Saturn, and Nintendo's showcase of the Virtual Boy console.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1993–94 United States Senate hearings on video games</span> US video game industry lawmaking

On December 7, 1993, and March 5, 1994, members of the combined United States Senate Committees on Governmental Affairs and the Judiciary held congressional hearings with several spokespersons for companies in the video game industry including Nintendo and Sega, involving violence in video games and the perceived impacts on children. The hearing was a result of concerns raised by members of the public on the 1993 releases of Night Trap, Mortal Kombat and later Doom which was released after the first hearing. Besides general concerns related to violence in video games, the situation had been inflamed by a moral panic over gun violence, as well as the state of the industry and an intense rivalry between Sega and Nintendo.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Our Man in Washington". Next Generation . No. 33. Imagine Media. September 1997. pp. 12–17.
  2. ↑ Nonprofit Report for ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE ASSOCIATION Archived 2013-06-29 at archive.today . Guidestar.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-23.
  3. ↑ The Entertainment Software Association - Contact Us. Theesa.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-23.
  4. ↑ The Entertainment Software Association - Become an ESA Member Archived 2013-06-24 at archive.today . Theesa.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-23.
  5. ↑ Kohler, Chris (July 29, 2009). "July 29, 1994: Videogame Makers Propose Ratings Board to Congress". Wired . Condé Nast Publications. Archived from the original on February 18, 2014. Retrieved June 1, 2011.
  6. 1 2 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.
  7. ↑ Kohler, Chris (July 29, 2009). "July 29, 1994: Videogame Makers Propose Ratings Board to Congress". Wired . Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  8. ↑ Calvert, Justin (July 21, 2003). "IDSA renamed ESA". GameSpot . Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  9. ↑ Illinois Ordered to Pay ESA Half Million Archived 2006-08-21 at the Wayback Machine by Daemon Hatfield, IGN Entertainment, 2006-08-10
  10. ↑ Rumor:ESA President is Quitting(archived) by Brian Crecente, Kotaku , 2006-12-14
  11. ↑ ESA selects new president by Brendan Sinclair, GameSpot, 2007-05-17
  12. 1 2 3 Crecente, Brian (2019-05-10). "Inside the Disarray Facing the Video Game Organization Behind E3". Variety. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
  13. ↑ McWhertor, Michael (October 3, 2018). "Head of E3 operator and lobbying group, The ESA, steps down". Polygon . Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  14. ↑ McAloon, Alissa (May 13, 2019). "Stanley Pierre-Louis named CEO and president of the ESA". Gamasutra . Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  15. ↑ Park, Gene (December 12, 2023). "E3, once gaming's biggest expo, is officially dead". The Washington Post . Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  16. ↑ "Schwarzenegger v. EMA" (PDF). supremecourt.gov. 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  17. ↑ GamePolitics ESA Spent $1.1 Million in Q1 for Lobbying
  18. ↑ TGDaily ESA spent $1.1M on lobbying fees
  19. ↑ Gamasutra ESA Spent Record $4.2 Million Lobbying In 2008
  20. ↑ 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.
  21. ↑ "Entertainment Software Association withdraws SOPA, PIPA support". Digital Spy . 2012-01-20.
  22. ↑ LeJacq, Yannick. "'Call of Duty' maker gears up against 'violent video games' bill." NBC news. 2013-09-11
  23. ↑ Rougeau, Michael (May 29, 2013). "ESA Nails 5 Million for Copyright Infringement". Digital Trends . Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  24. ↑ Schreier, Jason. "U.S. Senator Introduces Bill To Ban Loot Boxes And Pay-To-Win Microtransactions". Kotaku. Retrieved 2019-05-10.
  25. ↑ Dring, Christopher (August 3, 2019). "E3 accidentally leaks personal details of journalists, YouTubers and analysts". GamesIndustry.biz . Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  26. ↑ Gera, Emily (August 5, 2019). "E3 organisers previously leaked over 6000 more names". Rock Paper Shotgun . Retrieved August 5, 2019.
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