Environmental messaging in video games is nothing new. From modern tales like Horizon Forbidden West to all-time gaming classics like Final Fantasy 7, the awareness that the planet is in danger is woven into a great many titles in interactive media.
The UN program Play for the Planet focuses on promoting this message, both in games themselves and in the industry as a whole. The Best War Games spoke to Playing for the Planet’s Lisa Pak at Gamescom LATAM in Brazil about how the program, an extension of the United Nations Environment Programme, works with developers to ensure that the real world doesn’t follow the path of Horizon’s future Earth.
Minecraft Map Raises $227,000 For Climate Change Awareness
A charity raises over a quarter of a million dollars using Minecraft, raising awareness about climate change through the game's mangrove trees.
Telling the Story of the Planet
All forms of narrative are extremely important, explains Pak. A game doesn’t need to directly tackle the environment to be environmental in her eyes. Rather, it can be beneficial to include themes of environmentalism in games that primarily focus on different topics.
"I'm not saying develop only climate games. You know, those are very niche. We need those games to appeal to a broad audience, but think about how you can include what we call 'green activation.' A small nudge to talk about something...I think narrative engagement is so powerful. Right now, within Playing for the Planet, we just kicked off a storytelling and narrative working group to find ways and best practices to get the climate message across."
To that end, Playing for the Planet has been looking at the research of Kris De Meyer, director of the University College of London’s Climate Action Unit. De Meyer’s research, according to Pak, suggests that while climate awareness has increased in the past decades, climate action hasn’t. The important part of climate-related messaging in games now is the “green activation” that turns awareness into activity.
Rather than viewing climate change as an abstract problem we need to do something about, Pak wants games to put more focus on thinking critically and engaging with things like home electricity differently. Those steps don’t need to be drastic, she says, and in fact, it might be better if they aren’t. There's no point in completely cutting out meat or not traveling by plane, but within those spheres there are still small steps anyone can take.
"If we look at how we eat—if we cut out beef, for example, if I cut it out of my diet—then I could teach you to do it, plus other friends. We already have a bigger impact on the environment versus if I were going to become vegetarian by myself. Did I talk to you and other friends to inspire you to do something different?"
That, Pak says, is the new arena games should look at to become the next wave of climate-aware or environmental titles. The tragedy of climate change shown in games for over 25 years, from Awesome Possum to Another Crab’s Treasure, isn’t unimportant but has become less critical than looking at what can be done about the issue.
5 Open-World Games That Use Their Environment To Tell A Story
These 5 Open-World games elevate themselves by adding both subtle and large details that add into the lore of the game's world.
Bringing the Message Out of the Game
The way games engage with climate, and the prevailing themes of climate dystopia, aren’t the only things Playing for the Planet concerns itself with. On the contrary, one of the program’s main focuses is bringing industry partners together to help decarbonize the development process long before gamers even see the first trailer, let alone get their hands on a title.
In addition to a wealth of smaller partners, Playing for the Planet’s alliance includes PlayStation, Xbox, Google, Unity, Sega, Ubisoft, Rovio, and many more. This alliance has already produced measurable results.
"Last year, it was Endless Dungeon of Sega that was a completely cardboard box. That came out of this collaboration and then, earlier this year, Ubisoft launched Skull and Bones, which is also completely cardboard. They really had to collaborate with the first parties."
Working collectively with industry partners has helped achieve something that seems small, but has great ramifications on the energy and plastic waste in the industry and improves, in small but significant ways, the climate outlook for the future. It isn’t just packaging, either; Playing for the Planet helps share knowledge among its partners about environmental best practices, like sharing Xbox’s sustainability toolkit to provide developers of all sizes with more resources.
Smaller devs, Pak says, tend to naturally have smaller carbon footprints because they often work remotely in early development stages. Offices require commutes, consume power in addition to personal residences, and are often riddled with inefficiencies that enhance the carbon footprint of whatever product or service the office provides. Though it may be surprising in such a competitive and cost-averse industry as game development, Pak says that Playing for the Planet’s industry partners are actually enthused about working together:
"There's already a lot of things that you can think about: energy efficiency optimizations are not only good for the environment, they also save cost. I think a lot of times when we think of doing things for the environment, we don't realize that you're saving costs in the long run as well."
Pak is optimistic about the future of the industry as it relates to sustainability. Games, she says, are a powerful tool with an incredible reach that can inspire millions to action every year, and they represent a large sector of the economy committing to more environmentally sustainable practices.