The gaming sector is huge. In fact, it’s larger than the movie and music industries combined, and is growing. The global gaming market was valued at $198.80 billion in 2021, and it’s expected to reach a value of $339.95 billion by 2027, according to Moredore Intelligence.
Gaming platforms are attracting hundreds of thousands of new visitors every year. This growth was accelerated by the pandemic with nationwide lockdowns and more people staying at home choosing gaming as a way to pass the time.
But as public awareness of topics like climate change, air quality, biodiversity, waste, circular economy and health and wellbeing reach new heights, how can gaming occupiers, involved in the development, marketing, and monetisation of games, drive forward their sustainability goals?
The UN Playing For The Planet Alliance, launched in 2019, has signed up some heavyweight players in the sector, through which they pledge to measurable commitments to reduce their environmental impact, ranging from integrating green activations in games to reducing real estate emissions.
With the sector being uniquely placed to leverage gamification tactics to engage people in sustainability, the alliance also hosts the now annual Green Game Jam, during which studios design and implement green content to encourage game players to contribute to a more sustainable future.
In terms of real estate, the trade association for the UK's games and interactive entertainment industry (UKie) has partnered with the Alliance to produce the Green Games Guide. This is a simple five-step process to help the sector to think about its property and supply chain carbon impacts. It gives consideration to carbon emissions reduction, for example, through decreasing office emissions, reducing waste and minimising staff travel, but does not consider broader sustainability issues. It’s a good start, but certainly more will need to be done by gaming companies to fully understand and manage their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) impacts.
Another aspect for consideration is that gaming consoles can consist of a variety of mined materials including copper, nickel, gold and zinc. The extraction of these components can have huge environmental and human rights implications. Also, once ready for disposal, electronic waste is a global challenge. According to the UN, 50 million metric tons of e-waste are produced around the world each year.
A solution could be in Cloud gaming, which is growing in popularity and allows gamers to stream high-end games across hand-held devices, such as laptops, tablets, and mobiles, eliminating the need for a dedicated gaming console or PC. However, data centres, the Cloud and digitisation still have huge energy demands, which is why it is vital that the sector considers sustainability both in the way it manages its own business and real estate, but also in product design and development.
Most studies indicate between 85-90 per cent of Generation Z, or those born between the late 1990s to pre 2010s, are playing video games on smartphones, gaming consoles, and computers at least weekly. As well as being players, the gaming sector has become a career choice for many who have grown up with gaming being a part of their lives. This generation is environmentally motivated, sustainability literate and pushing the climate change agenda. Certainly it will expect workplaces which reflect these core values.
The gaming sector, by its very nature, is forever evolving and is based on innovation and creativity. It has the ability to not only address sustainability within its own operations, but also to empower its player communities to make a difference.
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