The Entertainment Software Association has announced that its gamer outreach organization, The Video Game Voters Network, will receive an unprecedented amount of autonomy. For many years, the concern has been raised that a gamer outreach organization cannot actually function when its agenda is dictated by a publisher run organization.
To counter this, the ESA has announced that the VGVN will now be able to choose its own battles. “In order to achieve greater support from gamers, we must allow them to choose their own path,” ESA President Michael Gallagher said. “If they feel like they are constrained in any way, we might lose their cooperation and support.”
When news of this story broke, the VGVN announced the results of its gamer survey of issues they feel need addressed. Among those issues raised by gamer members were the DMCA notice and takedown program, the DMCA’s anti-circumvention clause, DRM, abandoned online games, broken game launches and more.
When asked what the VGVN has planned in order to address those gamer concerns, the VGVN attempted to change the subject. When pressed further the representative was quoted as saying, “Those issues fall outside our independence contract with the ESA.”
