Trade Associations and You

        With the ever-increasing video game industry that is in place in todays society, it is important to have a group of collective publishers to help promote and safe guard the industry.
Once such group is called the Entertainment Software Association or ESA for short. The ESA is 35 members strong and includes big publishers like Electronic Arts, Capcom, and Nintendo. The ESA also owns and operates the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) trade fair that is an industry only event. At E3 these publishers and video game studios come together to showcase their work and promote their new products.

          The ESA is part of the global anti-piracy campaign, in order to protect the video game industry. Piracy in the U.S. cost the industry millions of dollars a year. They work together with the government to help stop the illegal trading of video games. This is extremely important that they work together and combat piracy. By combating piracy, these companies are able to make better profits which in turn allows them to pay their employees more and have a higher budget to produce even more high quality games. ESA also conducts research on its consumers to better understand the latest trends in the entertainment software industry. This benefits the industry greatly, because it allows these companies to better serve their target market without the worry of producing a game that no one will like (although this still happens, but thanks to the research, not as often). 

          It would be a great opportunity to be able to attend and industry only event like E3. With so many of the top publishers attending, the chance of meeting new contacts and to promote my studio (it may also even lead to a job with one of the publishing companies). These type of events also attract new start up publishers and developers, I can link with them and ensure that my client base grows as I get more and more people to know my work. the ESA is a great contribution to the entertainment industry. With all the companies working together to achieve the same goals, it allows the industry to thrive and grow, not only for today but also for the future.