Gamers & Global Warming

Dear Sacramento Special Report: A friend’s dad said it was such a shame that video gaming causes so much global warming, but I don’t see the connection. Owing to the fact that the majority of energy is generated by burning non-renewable fossil fuels, which naturally releases harmful carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, it can easily be seen how video games might continue to contribute heavily to global warming – even despite the availability of renewable energy tariffs.

The connection between video gaming and climate change is mostly about energy use. In short, the huge growth in gaming, and the inefficiency of the consoles from the major manufacturers like Microsoft and Sony, has led to a surge in electricity demand associated with kids’ enjoyment of Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox and other popular gaming platforms.

From the games themselves to the way they’re manufactured, shipped, and sold, they all contribute to a large carbon footprint. Even digital games can contribute to climate change. Most games are played online and require a lot of data usage, contributing to “internet pollution”, which accounts for almost 3.7% of all global greenhouse gas emissions.

These effects are only a small piece of the byproduct of humanity’s rapid technological and industrial development. Our constant push for advancement contributes to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, resulting in there being more CO2 in our atmosphere than at any other time in human history. In an ominous Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report in 2021, the United Nations reported, “It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.” And a big part of that influence comes from our entertainment production, which includes nearly all aspects of the game industry, thanks to its reliance on computing, servers, manufacturing, distribution, and more.

Whilst this is fantastic news for the gaming industry, it paints a slightly less positive picture for the environment. In fact, research by energy switching site SaveOnEnergy highlights an inextricable link between gaming and global warming, finding that certain video games and their play time are proving to have a detrimental effect on our planet. For example, it is estimated that US gamers consume a whopping 34 terawatt-hours of energy every year – a figure which is equivalent to having 5 million cars on the road.

Are video games a threat to the environment?

What impact do the best-selling online video games have on the environment? Some researchers are suggesting that the video gaming industry is a sustainability nightmare. Video games might not appear inextricably tied to the climate crisis, but they are. There’s the electricity use of gaming devices themselves, estimated to sit at 34 terawatt-hours of energy each year, or the equivalent of 5 million cars. Once you start unraveling where else the industry intersects with environmental issues, it can be difficult to stop — from the petroleum-based substances the hardware is made of, the workers mining raw materials in already sweltering conditions, to the millions of air miles underpinning business deals. Even just a cursory peek into the future shows the internet infrastructure games are reliant upon might be submerged by rising sea levels. As the crisis rolls on, game makers are beginning to give serious thought to how they might reduce their industry’s contributions to the crisis.

Gaming serves as an escape from the horrors of real life, but it’s also one of the largest contributors to one of our biggest fears. That doesn’t mean that the industry isn’t working to slow its impact on climate change, though. In fact, many companies are pushing to lessen their carbon footprints. So, what can gamers, developers and manufacturers do to ensure a greener future for the video gaming industry, and what needs to be done to foster positive environmental changes?

Growing studies indicate that the environmental impacts of the video gaming industry is projected to climb, from materials needed to be mined for gaming consoles to energy intensity for cloud gaming. But there are ways to improve sustainability within the sector and for individual gamers. But while many gamers will ditch the discs, experts say that less visible tech in no way equals less damage to the planet, and that the games industry as a whole is not on a path to reducing its carbon footprint. Right now, US gaming platforms represent 34 terawatt-hours a year in energy usage—more than the entire state of West Virginia—with associated carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to over 5 million cars. And it’s only going to get worse. “Total emissions are going up,” says Gary Cook, global climate campaigns director for Stand.Earth, an environmental nonprofit founded to challenge corporations’ climate practices. “There’s a real reckoning that needs to happen.”

According to a UN report, environmental video games like this one might be the next step in raising environmental awareness. Around 2.6 billion people, or one in three across the globe, play video games. And the industry generates annual revenue of over $140 billion (€116 billion) — more than Bollywood, Hollywood and recorded music sales combined.

“Video gaming tends to portray a pretty destructive relationship between the player and the environment—a very colonial, extractive relationship where everything in the game world is all laid out there for the players’ benefit,” Bille says. From the games themselves to the way they’re manufactured, shipped, and sold, they all contribute to a large carbon footprint. Even digital games can contribute to climate change. Most games are played online and require a lot of data usage, contributing to “internet pollution”, which accounts for almost 3.7% of all global greenhouse gas emissions.