Video games industry

Some of the largest names in the video gaming business have today publicly pledged to using the power of their platforms to take action in response to the climate issue, with a combined audience of 970 million gamers. These 21 firms’ efforts will result in a 30 million tonne decrease in CO2 emissions by 2030, millions of trees being planted, new “green nudges” in game design, and improvements in energy management, packaging, and gadget recycling.

On the sidelines of the UN Secretary-Climate General’s Action Summit, these voluntary commitments were announced today at UN Headquarters. CEOs from 14 platforms and gaming companies, including Sony Interactive Entertainment, Microsoft, Google Stadia, Rovio, Supercell, Sybo, Ubisoft, and WildWorks, were there to demonstrate their pledges under the umbrella of the Playing for the Planet Alliance. The Alliance wants to assist businesses in sharing knowledge and tracking environmental progress.

“The video game business has the power to enthral, inspire, and enchant billions of individuals all over the world. As a result, they are a critical partner in addressing the climate crisis,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). “We are encouraged by these gaming companies’ commitment, which demonstrates that we all have a role to play in the global fight to reduce carbon emissions and influence genuine change toward sustainability.”

Following the GRID-Arendal research Playing For The Planet, which shows how the video games industry, which reaches 2.6 billion people globally, may assist action on the environmental agenda, UNEP coordinated these commitments with the help of Playmob.

“I am proud and privileged to join leaders in the gaming industry today at the UN Climate Summit to make promises to contribute to the UN’s efforts,” said Jim Ryan, President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment. “At PlayStation, we think that games have the ability to spark social change through educating people, evoking emotions, and inspiring optimism. We’re ecstatic to be a part of the Playing for the Planet Alliance, and we’re excited to see what the industry can accomplish together.”

“Climate change is affecting every industry and sector, and we believe technology can help enable and empower the solution to this challenge,” said Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s senior vice president of gaming. “Projects like our Minecraft Build a Better World Campaign and the CarbonNeutral Xbox pilot provide us a wonderful chance to use Microsoft’s technology sustainability and gaming community to make a difference in this important area of our business.”

The following are the commitments:

  • Sony Interactive Entertainment will announce new progress and plans to use energy efficient technology (on track to avoid 29 million tonnes of CO2 emissions by 2030), introduce low power suspend mode for the next generation PlayStation, assess and report their carbon footprint, and educate and inspire the gaming community to take action on climate change.
  • Microsoft will announce the expansion of its existing operational commitment to carbon neutrality, which it made in 2012, to include its devices and gaming efforts. It will establish a new goal of reducing supply chain emissions by 30% by 2030, including device end-of-life, and certifying 825,000 Xbox consoles as carbon neutral in a trial programme. Furthermore, Microsoft will involve gamers in real-world sustainability efforts through Minecraft’s “Build a Better World” project, which has seen over 20 million in-game actions.
  • Google Stadia, which will launch later this year, will publish a new Sustainable Game Development Guide and finance research into how “green nudges” can be efficiently incorporated into game play.
  • Supercell (Clash of Clans) will offset their entire community’s carbon footprint, Rovio (Angry Birds) will counteract the carbon impact of their players charging their smartphones, and Sybo (Subway Surfer) and Space Ape (Fastlane) will offset 200 percent of their studio’s and gamers’ mobile energy use. Other companies will be able to take similar moves with the help of guidance manuals.
  • Wild Works (Animal Jam) will include restoration components in their games and, like Green Man Gaming, will focus on repairing parts of the world’s forests through large-scale tree-planting programmes.
  • Ubisoft will develop in-game green themes and obtain materials from environmentally friendly manufacturing, while Sports Interactive will eliminate 20 tonnes of packaging by converting from plastic to a recycled alternative.
  • With Reliance Games (Little Singham) generating awareness in the fastest growing mobile gaming market by creating awareness with kids to make them ambassadors for climate change through in-game events and initiatives across India, Creative Mobile’s ZooCraft will evolve into a conservation-focused game. iDreamSky, China’s largest independent gaming platform, has pledged to include green nudges in its games.
  • E-Line Media (Never Alone, Beyond Blue), Strange Loop (Eco), and Internet of Elephants (Safari Central) will all contribute their expertise in creating high-impact environmental games to the Alliance.
  • Finally, Twitch has pledged to use its platform to promote this message to the worldwide gaming community, with Niantic Inc (Pokemon Go) pledging to engage their community in environmental action.

“Through years of awareness-raising efforts tied to our Passionate Birds games and movies, we’ve learned that our fans are just as angry about climate change as we are,” Rovio Entertainment CEO Kati Levoranta said. “Given the magnitude of the environmental concerns that we will confront in the coming years, we as an industry must stand with our players and be evangelists for change,” says the report.

Too often, there is a trade-off between instructional games and games that do not reach a large audience. To address this, many of the companies will do design jams with their creatives to examine how they may actively incentivize better environmental outcomes within the games without sacrificing player pleasure and enjoyment.

“Video gaming might seem like an unexpected partner in this war, but this Alliance is a key platform where all of us can play our bit to decarbonise our effect and bring the concerns into games,” said Mathias Gredal Norvig, CEO of Sybo, the company behind Subway Surfer. I am a firm believer in igniting interest and creating dialogues wherever people are, and with 2 billion people playing games, this platform has unparalleled reach.”

“The Mobile Games sector has to take the lead in the emerging markets to promote awareness among the next billion gamers coming online to lead the way for climate change,” said Amit Khanduja, CEO of Reliance Games. We are privileged to be a part of this powerful UN initiative for a brighter future.”