The ESA has made some stunning new statements about something that could hurt the video game industry, not just in America, but around the world.
Some gamers may only know ESA as the company that runs E3, or sometimes the big company that speaks for Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo sometimes. The Electronic Software Association is the video game industry’s trade association in the US, representing not only the big console companies, and the big video game publishers, but the interests of the video game industry as a whole.
It was originally formed in the 1990s as a response to then senator Joe Lieberman’s proposed Video Game Act, which would have the US government directly oversee video games. While Nintendo and Sega squared off in US Senate hearings, both and other video game companies saw the threat this law could represent. So they came together to form this association, and approached the Senate with the ESRB, which allowed the industry to rate and regulate their own games.
Because of the ESA, the video game industry was able to flourish in America, and subsequently that allowed it to take over the world. Aside from the ESRB, and E3, the organization acted in the industry’s interests to defend itself in other attempts to censor or regulate video games across different states.
The ESA has not been without controversy. It has been criticized for lobbying US politicians, and for enforcing copyright protection. Of course, the ESA owns the failure and end of E3. But it was important to understand what the ESA does and why it exists to understand what they are saying today, and why they are saying it.
The ESA shared a statement to various video game news outlets, and also published on their website, dated February 3, 2025. It says this:
“Video games are one of the most popular and beloved forms of entertainment for Americans of all ages. Tariffs on video game devices and related products would negatively impact hundreds of millions of Americans and would harm the industry’s significant contributions to the U.S. economy. We look forward to working with the Administration and Congress to find ways to sustain the economic growth supported by our sector.”
As explained by financial analyst Mat Piscatella, the proposed tariff on imports from Mexico could lead to a reduction in disc based games to be sold in the US. This is because Mexico makes most of those discs.
Subsequently, it will lead to higher prices, not only for physical discs, but also digital versions of games. Piscatella also explains that it would be costly to move that production back to the US, for a part of the market that’s increasingly declining.
And Piscatella doesn’t mention it here, but a significant number of those disc games sold around the world are actually originally imported in America. For example, if a gamer who lives in a country that doesn’t have PSN wants to play a Sony game, even if they have a PS5, they need to make a US PSN account.
Subsequently, they’ll need to buy a US version of that game, either physically sold in black or grey markets, or digital. The physical version of that game will now skyrocket in price. And for regions where internet access is also limited, that kills their ability to play those games.
And Piscatella only shares one example, but we think you get the point. It’s the ESA’s job to keep the video game industry healthy, and that means protecting them from laws and executive orders like this. Gamers definitely need to pay attention, not just because their games could go up in price, but because it could affect everything, down to what games get made and how they are available.
