The-ESA
Latest
E3 2012 had 45,700 attendees, will announce dates and venue for 2013 soon
The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) had 45,700 industry personnel in attendance for the 2012 show. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the trade organization that puts on the annual mega show, estimated E3 generated 30,000 total hotel room bookings and nearly $40 million in revenue for the city.The ESA, for the first time in years, did not announce next year's host city nor show dates at the end of the expo. The group is currently in a little spat with the city over assurances that the show will run efficiently during next year's construction of the Farmers Field stadium.
ESA: Games industry responsible for $5 billion of US economy
A study commissioned by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) found that the video game industry added about $5 billion to the US economy in 2009. The report, "Video Games in the 21st Century: The 2010 Report" [PDF link], claims the industry directly employs about 32,000 people in the States and indirectly employs 120,000 (GameStop employees, video game media, manufacturing and distribution). The average industry employee has an annual compensation of $89,781 -- of course, there's a wide range in that average. A whopping 41 percent, or 13,041 of industry employees, call California home. Texas and Washington are the next closest, with 3,307 and 2,987 (approximately 10 percent apiece), respectively. The annual growth rate of the industry exceeded 10 percent between 2005 and 2009, which is good -- especially when taking the last few years of bad employment news into account.
ESA estimates 'over 9.78 million' pirated game downloads in December
[Joriel Jiminez] So, okay, seriously, there are a lot of people out there stealing games. Like, lots. "Over 9.78 million" in just December of 2009, more specifically, according to a recent study conducted by the International Intellectual Property Alliance and the Entertainment Software Association. Scouring "the most popular peer-to-peer platforms" for a group of 200 titles, the study found that the worst offenders (by country) were Spain (12.5 percent), France (7.5 percent), Brazil (6 percent) and China (5.7 percent) -- the ESA also points out that these stats "demonstrate a strong correlation between countries that lack sufficient protections for technological protection measures and countries where online piracy levels for entertainment software are high." Worse yet, the figures are repeatedly noted as being an under-representation of actual piracy numbers. "While they account for illegal downloads that occur over select P2P platforms, they do not account for the downloads that occur from 'cyberlockers' and 'one-click' hosting sites, which continue to account for high volumes of infringing downloads," the ESA echoes. The IIPA has since submitted the findings to the United States Trade Representative who could potentially impose sanctions on certain countries based on the recommendations.
ESA applauds formation of Dept. of Justice Task Force on Intellectual Property
With last week's announcement by the US Department of Justice of the formation of the Department of Justice Task Force on Intellectual Property, the ESA this weekend released a statement celebrating the DoJ's decision. "We applaud the Justice Department for its commitment to protecting intellectual property and commend the Attorney General for his leadership," said ESA president and CEO Michael Gallagher. "Intellectual property is the lifeblood and backbone of entertainment software," Gallagher continued. "... consumers benefit with the lower cost, high-quality and more diverse title offerings that are made possible by strong measures protecting the creative works of our industry's artists." Intellectual property rights and the policing of them has been a point of contention with distributed media (from film to games to books, and everything in between) and the publishers of said media since the invention of the printing press (and likely before that!), so it'll be especially interesting to see how the US government handles such a hefty issue in the burgeoning digital world. As strict opponents of game piracy ourselves, we wish them the best of luck. They're going to need it.
ESA partners with Microsoft & Sony for STEM initiative, launches game creation competitions
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the game industry lobby group, today announced two new game creation contests meant to support President Obama's STEM initiative (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math studies). A partnership between the ESA, Microsoft, Sony, the Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC), and the MacArthur Foundation will help to fund and run a series of STEM-related game design competitions. Details of the first two competitions – "Game Changers" and the less creatively titled "STEM National Video Game Competition" – are scant at the moment, though the former will involve Sony donating 1,000 PS3s and copies of LittleBigPlanet to libraries and community-based organizations in low-income districts, with plans to share the winning levels free to the gaming public. When asked, an ESA representative told Joystiq that more information would be revealed in "the coming weeks."
New York governor signs 'unnecessary' game law
New York Governor David Patterson has signed some of the most ... well, put it this way, if you like the government wasting time, then you're going to love the recently signed New York game bill. GamePolitics reports the legislation establishes an advisory council to conduct a study between games and real-world violence. It also requires -- here's the kicker -- new video game consoles to incorporate parental lockout features by 2010 and retail games to disclose ESRB ratings. News flash: All consoles already have parental lockout features built in and ESRB ratings are prominently displayed on each game's box and disc.For its part, the Entertainment Software Association believes the law ignores "legal precedent, common sense and the wishes of many New Yorkers in enacting this unnecessary bill." It points out that the mandates required are already voluntarily in place and the bill unfairly singles out the video game industry. The ESA asks if New York would like to convene a government commission on books, theater and film as well. It's still up in the air if the ESA will sue New York, but the lobby group has gotten good at getting game laws overturned in several states and making its money back for doing so in the process.
