Entertainment Software Association: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) is the trade association of the entertainment software industry in the United States. It was formed in April, 1994 as the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) and was renamed to ESA on July 16, 2003.

Most of the top publishers in the gaming world are members of ESA, including Acclaim Entertainment, Activision, Atari, Capcom, Eidos Interactive, Electronic Arts, id Software, Konami, LucasArts, Microsoft, Midway Games, Namco, Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Square Enix, THQ, Ubi Soft and Vivendi Universal Games.

ESA's programs include:

• Presenting the annual E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo)
• Supporting the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)
• Combatting software piracy
• Combatting efforts to promote government censorship and regulation of video games