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ESA gala raises $800,000 for children's charity

Nite to Unite funds now total $11 million as Guillemot receives Champion Award

The Entertainment Software Association has announced that its 11th annual gala event, A Nite to Unite - For Kids, raised over USD 800,000 when it took place last month.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot was honoured at the event with the 2009 ESA Champion Award, cited in recognition of building up the publisher from a tiny start-up 23 years ago to a global business today.

"This outpouring of support from the video game industry this year brings the total giving to the ESA Foundation to USD 11 million," said ESA president and CEO Michael D Gallagher. "This generous giving allows the ESA Foundation to support some truly compelling charitable organisations, including Web Wise Kids, Hope Lab, ThanksUSA and the One Economy Corporation."

Previous recipients of the Champion Award have included Shigeru Miyamoto and George Lucas, while among the co-chairs for this year's event were Microsoft's Robbie Bach and Epic Games' Michael Capps.