Earlier this month, SuperData Research Inc CEO Joost van Dreunen wrote an opinion piece criticizing the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), saying that the organization is becoming increasingly irrelevant and unhelpful to the video game industry as a whole.

This week, Rich Taylor, the ESA’s Senior VP of Communications and Industry Affairs, wrote his own opinion piece refuting van Dreunen’s statements.

“Last week, SuperData CEO Joost van Dreunen authored a misinformed, gratuitous critique of the Entertainment Software Association and our place in the video game industry,” Taylor wrote in his piece for GamesIndustry.biz. “For someone who purports to trade on industry facts, it is remarkable that Mr. van Dreunen’s opinion piece was filled with so many errors.”

Taylor noted that the ESA has over one million followers on Facebook and Twitter, and that “more than one million people joined our grassroots army of voting age gamers who work with us to promote and defend video games.”

According to Taylor, the ESA has been and continues to be instrumental in validating video games not only as a major player in the consumer market, but also as a form of artistic expression.

“Most industry watchers know that ESA led the charge to protect and showcase the tremendous vitality and creativity of video games in front of the United States Supreme Court,” Taylor said. “Our landmark victory affirmed that video games are expressive works afforded the same First Amendment protections as books, movies and other art forms, providing a crucial foundation for our entire industry.”

Does the ESA need more members?

While Taylor did not hesitate to discuss at the ESA’s many accomplishments at length, but he skirted the issue van Dreunen raised about the ESA’s membership being too small and narrowly focused.

“… the ESA currently has 33 members, of which only four are digital-only companies,” van Druenen said in his own article. “By comparison, its counterpart in the United Kingdom, Ukie, which represents a market that is roughly one-fifth the size of the U.S., counts 250 members. And this includes many of the same names and big publishers.”

In response, Taylor said only that the ESA’s members includes “the industry’s largest players,” and he listed the highest earning companies involved with the ESA.

While the largest companies do represent a bulk of the revenue in the video game industry, they also have very different needs from smaller developers and indie studios, so van Druenen may have a point about the ESA’s membership.

You can read van Druenen’s original article here, and you can read Taylor’s full response here.

Photo by -Marlith-