ESA president steps down, and he’s looking to get into politics

The Entertainment Software Association’s president and CEO Michael Gallagher has resigned his post at the American videogame lobbying body. He spent 11 years as the head of the group, and it seems as though he’s looking to move on to bigger things. Officially, Gallagher is stepping aside voluntarily, but insiders tell Variety that he was forced out by the ESA board. Variety was not able to determine why this happened, and ESA’s representatives declined to comment. Gallagher’s 11-year tenure as the head of ESA was highlighted by some landmark achievements. Notably, he led the group’s lobbying effort in the case of Brown vs. EMA/ESA, a case that went before the U.S. Supreme Court that eventually held that violent videogames are protected speech under the First Amendment, and could not be censored under a proposed California law. After winning the case, Gallagher and ESA donated a portion of the attorney’s fees they received as part of the judgment to work with California Governor Jerry Brown to create a game design learning program for youth in Oakland and Sacramento.

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