Gaming is a part of daily lives across the world, and it has increasingly become an important form of entertainment. As one of the emerging industries in Asia, gaming has affected the environment from the aspect of production, distribution, supply chain, to data and energy usage. Carbon footprints and environmental impacts have raised concerns among gamers. Gamers acknowledged that there needs to be more narrative on climate change and the environment in video games. A few of them also emphasized that the industry could prioritize gameplay over constantly increasing graphics and find middle-ground performance for their games. This way companies contribute to reducing energy consumption through their design. However, this move may be difficult as it goes against the trend of developing realistic 4K graphics and multisensory feedback, which gamers also enjoy.
Awareness of the impacts has led companies to create initiatives both on their manufacturing side as well as energy consumption, to push for sustainability. Sony Interactive Entertaiment accelerated their effort to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 and Microsoft have pledged to become a carbon-negative business by 2030. Epic Games also developed a feature in Fortnite to allow energy saving by reducing the resolution and frame rate in the waiting lobby once the player has been inactive for a certain amount of time.
Energy-saving mode is now available on Fortnite (Source: Epic Games)
Similarly, Xbox Series S and Series X consoles are equipped with an energy-efficient standby mode. Energy-saving features are important for times when gamers take a break between milestones or checkpoints, or by opening the menu while still intending to return to playing. These features also need to be relayed to gamers or set as default, to ensure their effective utilization. However, beyond manufacturing and development technologies to improve efficiency, companies are also leading initiatives, environmental campaigns, and activations with proactive and policy-focused goals.
Playing for the Planet Initiative
Major companies are also taking steps toward environmentally neutral gaming in the form of policy and regulation. In 2019, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) facilitated an initiative called Playing for the Planet, led by a consortium of companies including Twitch, Google, Sony, and Microsoft. The alliance is comprised of gaming companies and studios, technology companies, and trade associations that are committed to supporting the environment. Major gaming companies based in Asia are also part of the initiative, including 37 Interactive Entertainment, Bandai Namco, Reliance Games, and Tencent Games.
Source: Playing For The Planet
Companies’ contribution to reducing environmental impacts is achieved by lowering emissions on hardware production and business operations, as well as through a series of campaigns to raise awareness about environmental causes. Playing for the Planet also publishes a Carbon Calculator for developers, publishers, and game entities to measure and address their carbon footprint. In supporting the initiative Microsoft, for example, produced 825,000 carbon neutral Xbox consoles by financing Sichuan China Biodigesters project and using renewable energy in manufacturing.
Green Game Jam
Niko Partners’ Market Model Report 2025 estimated that there will be 2 billion gamers in Asia and MENA by 2029, making gaming a strategic industry through which to share messages of environmental awareness. provide an opportunity for developers to spread awareness through campaigns such as Green Game Jam. As a part of Playing for Planet, Green Game Jam launched an “#AllInForNature” campaign which involved 55 game studios directly educating their audiences.
Source: Green Game Jam
Participants of Green Game Jam are expected to create an activation relating to nature conservation that will drive players to take action. The role of these game studios is to encourage their players to take action or draft messages in support of nature. These messages are then collected and once the number reaches 100,000, participating orgnaizations will collectively deliver them to policymakers.
A number of popular mobile games in Asia are participating in Green Game Jam, including . Tencent’s Honor of Kings (HoK) has maintained its popularity for a decade in Asia. According to Niko Partners’ Pre-Earning Analysis, HoK has over 1.8 million monthly active users with more than 500,000 daily active users, largely from East Asia and Southeast Asia.
Source: Green Game Jam
Building on it’s popularity, Honor of Kings has launched an in-game event called Protect Nature, Protect All Life. The campaign encourages players to convert their in-game rewards and achievements into support for forest protection projects. Upon the completion of this campaign, Honor of Kings is supporting four conservation projects -the Katingan Peatland Restoration and Conservation Project in Indonesia, Kuamut Rainforest Conservation Project in Malaysia, Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve Project in Indonesia, and the Brazilian Amazon APD Grouped Project in Brazil. Collectively these will equal 28,000 tons of verified carbon credits.
Gaming Drives Environmental Action
Sam Barratt, the Chief of Youth, Education, and Advocacy at the UNEP Ecosystems Division has also argued that the gaming industry can lead public education campaigns that will drive environmental action. Barratt notes that gaming is different than other entertainment forms such as film and music, because of its highly immersive and communal nature.
A report published by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) supports this, showing that there is a change in gamers’ habits after playing games with environmental content, themes, and messaging. This initiative surveyed 181,000 players from 189 countries, involving the player base of popular games such as Subway Surfers, Beatstar, Pokemon GO!, and Avakin Life, among others. 79% of their respondents reported making at least one positive behavioral change related to the environment. Moreover, 47% of these players have made environmentally conscious actions to reduce impacts through choosing public transport and efficient energy use. This evidence begins to substantiate the role the games industry can play in driving change around sustainability.
Niko Partners believes the growing gaming community and industry can actively contribute to environmental and sustainability efforts. Niko Partners is a supporter of Playing for the Planet, a membership-based initiative that supports the video games industry’s reduction of its environmental impact. Founded in 2019 at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York, the initiative is facilitated with the support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). We are also a member of Blue Planet Alliance, a non-profit organization that works towards the adoption of 100% renewable energy by 2045.
As a supporter of environmental and sustainability initiatives, Niko Partners is excited to support causes and organizations working towards the same goal. Contact us if you are interested in communicating your ESG goals and activities through white papers with our custom research capabilities.
