14 DAY TRIAL // The most successful video game company in the world, Activision Blizzard, has announced that it will join other companies and support games in front of California's new violent video game law that aims to restrict the sales of such titles.
After yesterday's letter of support sent by reputed comics writer Stan Lee, video games are also being backed up by the biggest company in the business, Activision Blizzard.
The corporation revealed that it will be joining other companies from within the Entertainment Software Association, and will plead against the the state of California's new law project, that aims at prohibiting the sale of violent video games to minors.
"Our First Amendment has survived intact for 219 years amid far greater technological, historical and social challenges," said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. "The argument that video games present some kind of new ominous threat that requires a wholesale reassessment of one of our nation's most treasured freedoms and to take that freedom away indiscriminately from an entire group of our population based on nothing but age is beyond absurd.
"These are the same attacks Americans have witnessed against every previous emerging entertainment medium and genre including books, comics, rock 'roll, movies, TV and the Internet," Kotick continued. "In each case, freedom prevailed. We are thrilled to be able to be an important part of this historic effort to protect our Constitution and to ensure that video games remain vibrant form of expression for every gamer in our constituency."
Even if similar anti-video game laws have been scrapped in the past, California's new project is the only one that made it on the table of the Supreme Court, which scheduled a hearing on November 2.
At that time, Activision wants to show judges and politicians that video games are an established entertainment medium that can't be censored or restricted without violating America's First Amendment.
"The sheer breadth of support exhibited by public interest organizations, civic and media groups, legislative leaders, academia and interested parties demonstrate both the importance video games have assumed in the hearts and minds of our nation and the sacredness of certain basic tenets of our Constitution. We will never give up the fight for the freedom of expression our industry deserves and we will never forget this support," Kotick added.
Despite his previous statements that he wants to take the fun out of making video games and rule them with an iron fist, Activision's new stance might earn Kotick a lot of popularity among regular gamers.