It’s an interesting question that has raised a lot of eyebrows the past few weeks as more and more publishers and developers have risen up in opposition to the dangerous legislation.

The ESA issued a statement to Joystiq on why they support SOPA last week. Here it is in its entirety:

“As an industry of innovators and creators, we understand the importance of both technological innovation and content protection, and do not believe the two are mutually exclusive. Rogue websites — those singularly devoted to profiting from their blatant illegal piracy — restrict demand for legitimate video game products and services, thereby costing jobs. Our industry needs effective remedies to address this specific problem, and we support the House and Senate proposals to achieve this objective. We are mindful of concerns raised about a negative impact on innovation. We look forward to working with the House and Senate, and all interested parties, to find the right balance and define useful remedies to combat willful wrongdoers that do not impede lawful product and business model innovation.”

That last paragraph is especially interesting. They claim that they support the House and Senate so they obviously support SOPA and PIPA but are looking for ways to stop piracy that “do not impede lawful product and business model innovation.”

They could achieve this goal to “not impede” by supporting the OPEN Act, the safer alternative to SOPA. The ESA has not updated their stance, however, so it’s safe to assume that they are still firmly in the pro-SOPA camp.

The problem with developers and publishers is that they are represented by the ESA. This makes all of them supporters of SOPA by association.

Sony, Nintendo and EA, all members of the ESA, listed their support for SOPA. They had removed their support after some anger, mostly at Sony, arose from the depths of the Internet. Of course, when asked by Joystiq, EA said, “EA never expressed a position for or against SOPA.” I think putting the company’s name on the list of SOPA supporters firmly planted them in the for SOPA camp.

Some developers that are represented by the ESA have stood up against SOPA though. The list is still really small unfortunately. The confirmed list is Epic Games, 38 Studios, Mommy’s Best Games, Trion Worlds, Major League Gaming, Riot Games, Nvidia and Red 5 Studios. Out of all those companies, only Epic, 38 Studios, Trion Worlds and Nvidia are members of the ESA. They are a minority where as the other publishers just seem to delegate any concerns over SOPA to the ESA.

Capcom was the first to do this as they said that the ESA represented them in legislative matters. They then doubled back and said that they never claimed to support SOPA and that anybody inferring that from their statement was practicing bad journalism. I hate to break it to you, Capcom, but SOPA is a legislative matter.

Sega was even worse when a fan asked for their position on the matter. Sega sent back a form letter telling the concerned gamer that they need to “hard reset” their device. They apologized later for the answer, but still gave no official stance on the subject.

Once again, this is the main problem. By remaining silent, these publishers are supporting SOPA and the ESA.

That’s where you, the gamer, comes in. Keep pestering these publishers to actually say something about it. The more publishers that come out against SOPA, the more likely that the ESA would drop their support for it. This can’t be done by a few dedicated concerned gamers though. Get your friends, your clans, your guilds and everybody else in on this.

Gamers are a powerful force that have and can achieve a lot. Making publishers and developers formulate an opinion on SOPA independent of the ESA should be a piece of cake. We just need to show them our sheer force and numbers.

The companies that have yet to make a stance are 505 Games, Deep Silver, Disney Interactive, Eidos Interactive, Ignition Entertainment, Konami Digital Entertainment, Level-5, Namco Bandai Games, Natsume, Nexon America, Perfect World Entertainment, Square Enix, Take-Two, Tecmo Koei, THQ, and Ubisoft.

Getting a stance, even a pro-SOPA one, is an important step in this fight. Without knowing, we are left to just assume they are supporting it. Don’t let them delegate this stuff to the ESA. It’s too important to just let them delegate everything to them.

Reddit can do a black-out, every tech company can voice their dissent but gamers are a large force that can make things happen.

Demand action and the ESA will have to notice.

The report found a social aspect of game play with 62 percent of gamers reporting they play with other gamers in person at least one hour a week and 48 percent of parents said they play with their children at least once a week.

"Computer and video games are now available to consumers on every screen from smart phones to computers to flat screen televisions. This enables millions of Americans to enjoy the immersive storytelling, incredible graphics, and compelling plot lines," said Michael D. Gallagher, president and CEO of the ESA, the trade association representing U.S. computer and video game publishers.

"These works of art are a fun and engaging way to bring people together, especially families who are playing video games together now more than ever."

Other findings of the report include:

*The average game player is 34 years old and the average game buyer is 40 years old

*40 percent of game players are female

*48 percent of games sold are rated "E" for everyone

*76 percent of parents believe that parental controls available in all new vide game consoles are useful

The report also found that parents continue to have a high level of involvement in their children’s video game play. Parents who have children under 18 with a gaming console in the home said they are present when games are purchased or rented 93 percent of the time, and children receive their parents’ permission before buying or renting a game 86 percent of the time.
 

"This is the new golden age of entertainment software. Our products are now being enjoyed by over two-thirds of Americans," said Michael D. Gallagher, CEO of the ESA.

Michael D. Gallagher

"As the findings of the 2009 Essential Facts illustrate, more and more Americans across all demographics are now embracing the interactive entertainment experience that computer and video games provide."

The ESA found that forty-two percent of American homes have a video game console and adult gamers have been playing for 12 years on average, a decrease from 2008 that indicates more people are picking up video game controllers for the first time.

The average game player is 35 years old and forty-three percent of online game players are female.

More than three-quarters (77%) of parents believe that the parental controls available in all recent game consoles are useful and nearly half (45%) of all games sold are rated ‘E’ for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Rating Board.

In addition, the report found there is a high level of parental involvement in video game play. More than half (63%) of parents with children under 18 with a gaming console in the home believe games are a positive part of their children’s lives.

"The video game industry set the pace over all others in 2007, with record-breaking sales, off-the-charts consumer demand, and innovation reaching from galactic exploration to guitar simulation," said Michael D. Gallagher, president and CEO of the ESA, the U.S. association representing computer and video game software publishers.

"On average, an astonishing 9 games were sold every second of every day of the year."

Overall U.S. video game console software sales reached $6.6 billion (153.9 million units), computer game sales were $910.7 million (36.4 million units), and a record $2.0 billion (77.5 million units) in portable software sales. In terms of total units sold, approximately 267.8 million computer and vide games were sold in 2007.

When it comes to game ratings, only 15.5 percent of games sold last year were rated "Mature (M)" compared to 56.5 percent of games sold rated "Everyone 10+" or lower and 28 percent of games that were rated "Teen (T)." The largest growing category was "Family Entertainment," which grew 110 percent (17.2% of all games sold in 2007, up from 9.1% in 2006).

"This is clearly an industry strongly rooted in family-friendly entertainment, and not on Mature-rated titles," said Gallagher.