How Video Games Are Becoming Greener Without Alienating Gamers

Video game developers are now facing the real-life, planet-warming implications of immersing gamers in fantasy realms. With more than 3 billion people playing video games worldwide, which consume more electricity than midsize countries and generate more greenhouse pollution than 5 million cars in the US alone, the industry is under pressure to find ways to make games more efficient without alienating passionate gamers.

Gaming's Green Revolution: Balancing Fun and Environment

Energy-Efficient Gaming Giants

The studios behind popular video game titles like Fortnite, Minecraft, Call of Duty, Halo, the Elder Scrolls, etc. have taken significant steps this year to make their games more power-efficient. Xbox and PlayStation have updated their consoles to use much less electricity when idle. Xbox now schedules software updates during moments of higher renewable energy on the local power grid. Each console maker claims to be preventing the greenhouse gas equivalent of taking tens of thousands of cars off the road annually.

These efforts by major gaming companies show their commitment to reducing the environmental impact of gaming. It's not just about making games more sustainable but also about setting an example for the industry as a whole. By optimizing their console operations, they are taking a significant step towards a greener future.

However, these moves have not been without controversy. In January, conservative commentators and politicians accused Xbox of making video games "woke" after it released an optional power-saving mode. But as the importance of environmental sustainability becomes more widely recognized, such accusations are likely to diminish.

The Energy Arms Race in Gaming

According to a U.N. report, most of gaming's greenhouse emissions come from the electricity used by players to power their consoles, computers, and mobile devices. At-home energy use far outweighs the climate impact from assembling consoles, running data centers, and powering developer offices.

Computers and consoles have been constantly upgrading their computing power to offer the latest graphics, leading to a significant increase in power consumption. Even as consoles have become more efficient, the power needed to play the latest games continues to rise. This upgrade cycle is deeply ingrained in the games industry's marketing and business model, putting it on an unsustainable path of continuous upgrades.

Most gamers play on mobile devices, where developers work hard to make games run using less power. The Nintendo Switch, which can also be used as a handheld mobile device, uses less than a 10th as much power as plug-in PlayStation or Xbox. This shows that there are ways to make gaming more energy-efficient without sacrificing gameplay.

Pressing Pause on Energy Use in Gaming

Recognizing the significant role consoles and computers play in creating video game emissions, Xbox has created a set of tools for developers to track and cut back on energy usage in areas that gamers may not notice.

For example, in "Halo Infinite," when a player pauses the game, the game used to continue generating detailed scenery in the background, even though players couldn't see it. But this year, "Halo Infinite" started lowering the graphics resolution when a player hits pause, resulting in a 15 percent reduction in energy use. Such small changes can have a significant impact on overall energy consumption.

Other studios have also followed suit. Fortnite pared back graphics quality while players are in online "lobbies," saving 200 megawatt-hours of electricity per day - the average output of seven US wind turbines. The Elder Scrolls Online throttled graphics when players open menu screens or go idle for five minutes, resulting in a 5 percent drop in overall energy use, which is estimated to save the emissions equivalent of burning 1 million pounds of coal over the next three years for Xbox users.

A New Model for Green Gaming

While big studios take small steps towards efficiency, independent developers are testing experimental games that create as few emissions as possible.

Canadian design professor Kara Stone released an online game last month that runs on a web server powered by a solar panel installed on her apartment balcony. This shows that there are creative approaches to making games that are both beautiful and fun while being low-carbon. The game, "Known Mysteries," features low-fi graphics, heavily compressed video, and simple gameplay to fit into bite-sized data files. It's a testament to the fact that gaming can be compatible with fighting climate change.

Although professional game studios can't all run their servers on DIY solar panels, this experiment gives us a glimpse of what a climate-friendly future of gaming might look like - one where games use energy more thoughtfully and all the equipment runs on renewable electricity.