ESA Founder Lowenstein to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award

It's been nearly three years since Entertainment Software Association (ESA) founder and president Doug Lowenstein stepped down from the organization representing U.S. game publishers. During his 13-year tenure at ESA Lowenstein watched over an industry that truly evolved and matured into a juggernaut entertainment industry, but he also had to face numerous challenges. Now Lowenstein is being recognized for his efforts, as the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) will honor him as the third recipient of the Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award.

"Whether it was launching the E3 Expo and turning it into the signature gathering for interactive entertainment professionals, fighting against piracy, establishing the video game's influence in state capitals and Washington, DC, ceaselessly making the case that video games are as important a cultural force as other forms of entertainment, or rebutting virulent anti video game attacks, Doug's contributions to our industry and the creative community have been profoundly meaningful and enduring," said Joseph Olin, president, AIAS.

"It was under Doug's leadership that the industry fought off dangerous efforts to impose restrictions on video game content, in the process establishing unequivocally that video games are entitled to the same First Amendment rights as any other entertainment content," said Jay Cohen, AIAS Board chair and president of development, Jerry Bruckheimer Games. "For those of us in the AIAS, it is no exaggeration to say that the artistic freedom we now enjoy stems directly from Doug's efforts."

"This Lifetime Achievement Award represents the greatest professional honor I have ever received and I am grateful beyond words to the AIAS," said Lowenstein. "To be honored for doing a job I loved, and fighting for values I deeply hold on behalf of an industry and people I felt privileged to represent, let alone to be in the company of Howard Lincoln, Minoru Arakawa, and Ken Kutaragi, is profoundly humbling."

It's expected that Lowenstein will be presented the award during the 2010 D.I.C.E. Summit, which will be held at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, February 17-19, 2010. We'd like to congratulate Lowenstein on the Lifetime award; it's well deserved.