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ESA members asked individually about SOPA, some respond

Alexander Sliwinski
News Content Director
Updated ·3 min read

Rock, Paper, Shotgun collaborated in obtaining responses.

The Entertainment Software Association's support of the "Stop Online Piracy Act" has led us to ask every member of the video game industry's lobbying and political group to publicly declare its stance on the bill. The ESA's continued support means every member, by proxy, is a supporter of the bill.

Some companies have pulled their logos from supporting SOPA documentation to dodge ire, while others are hiding behind rhetoric, as you'll see below. Joystiq contacted every member of the ESA and requested a declarative statement on SOPA. After the break we've listed the responses we've received, along with others we found. We continue to seek clarity on this issue from every member of the ESA.

This will become the page we update as we receive responses and clear declarative statements, so feel free to bookmark.

(Joystiq does not support SOPA, nor does our parent company.)

  • 38 Studios - AGAINST - "Based on the SOPA bill's current structure, 38 Studios believes that the bill requires further restructuring and review to ensure it both preserves rights and protects intellectual properties."

  • 345 Games - FOR (no response)

  • 505 Games- FOR (no response)

  • Capcom USA, Inc. - FOR (dodging) - "At Capcom, we're game makers, not legislators. We do not have an internal stance on this particular issue and are not planning to. We'll get back to making games. Thanks."

  • Deep Silver - FOR (no response)

  • Disney Interactive Studios, Inc. -FOR (no response)

  • Eidos Interactive - FOR (no response)

  • Electronic Arts - FOR (dodging) - "EA never expressed a position for or against SOPA."

  • Epic Games - AGAINST - "We do not support the current version of SOPA,"

  • Her Interactive, Inc. - FOR (no response)

  • Ignition Entertainment - FOR (no response)

  • Konami Digital Entertainment - FOR (no response)

  • LEVEL-5 Inc. - FOR (no response)

  • Microsoft Corporation - FOR - But also against as a member of the Business Software Alliance.

  • Namco Bandai Games America Inc. - FOR (no response)

  • Natsume Inc. - FOR (no response)

  • Nexon America, Inc. - FOR (no response)

  • Nintendo of America Inc. - FOR (no response)

  • Nival - AGAINST - "Nival does not support SOPA, despite a deep understanding of the struggle against piracy in the games industry. Unfortunately, SOPA could do more harm to Internet freedom than good to fight piracy. We recognize the issues our partners in the online press have with this legislation. We will continue to be anti-piracy but are also anti-SOPA." The company also stated it shared its position with the ESA.

  • NVIDIA - AGAINST - "NVIDIA wasn't consulted by ESA in formulating their position on SOPA. Our position is this: we oppose piracy, as it hurts our game-developer partners. However, we do not support SOPA. We don't believe it is the right solution to the problem. We remain committed to working to address this problem in a constructive and fair manner."

  • O-Games, Inc. - FOR (no response)

  • Perfect World Entertainment - FOR (no response)

  • SEGA of America, Inc. - FOR (no response)

  • Slang - FOR - "As an ESA member we are represented by the ESA in these matters."

  • Sony Computer Entertainment America - FOR (no response)

  • Sony Online Entertainment, Inc. - FOR (no response)

  • Square Enix, Inc. - FOR (no response)

  • Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. - FOR (no response)

  • Tecmo Koei America Corporation - FOR (no response)

  • THQ, Inc. - FOR - "We don't have an individual statement on this, but encourage you to seek statement from the ESA on the matter."

  • Trion Worlds, Inc. - AGAINST - "We definitely do not support SOPA."

  • Ubisoft Entertainment, Inc. - FOR (no response)

  • Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Inc. - FOR (no response)

  • XSEED Games - FOR (no response)