Video games get serious about climate change
Video games get serious about climate change
Video games get serious about climate change
By Tatiana Kondratenko
March 16, 2020
Summary
Around 2.6 billion people, or one in three across the globe, play video games.
More recently, Sims, the life simulation game that first emerged in 2000, has released an Eco Lifestyle expansion pack where players can run a clean-water and recycling project or build wind turbines on rooftops to decrease their carbon footprint.
Alenda Chang, author of the book "Playing Nature: Ecology in Video Games" says players can learn about the human impact on the environment by witnessing different scenarios of how their actions impact their world.
In 2019, 21 companies, including giants like Sony Interactive, Microsoft and Google, formed Playing For The Planet Alliance - convened by the UN Environment Programme - to unlock the potential of gaming to tackle environmental issues.
"We want to inspire the gaming community to think what role they can play in tackling the climate crisis," said Sam Barratt, chief of the Youth, Education and Advocacy Unit in UNEP's Ecosystems Division and co-founder of the alliance.
It's hard to estimate how much electricity gamers consume since it varies based on how often a gamer plays, what platforms they use and how energy efficient their devices are.
Downloads only have a lower carbon footprint than BDs for games smaller than 1.3 GB while the average size of modern titles is 20 GB. Another rapidly growing option is cloud gaming in which the software is streamed to a smartphone or a laptop, similarly to how video and music streaming services work.
Game companies will have to look at the whole value chain of products to fulfill their climate commitments.
Lancaster University in northern England estimated that if gamers moved to streaming by 2030, carbon emissions could increase by 30%. And that's before taking into account streaming in higher resolutions, such as 4k. "We already more or less have a connection in our heads that eating meat is bad for the environment. But we don't have the same thinking for a game stream in 4k," Chang said.
With more advanced graphics and new devices for VR and AR games, the pressure is on for companies with climate ambitions, to look at the whole value chain of their products.
Reference
Kondratenko, t. (2021, March 5). Video games get serious about climate change: Dw: 03.05.2021. Retrieved August 04, 2021, from https://www.dw.com/en/can-video-games-inspire-climate-action/a-57357630