Game On? Identifying Environmentally Sustainable Trajectories for Video Games

Digital games are quickly growing, a shifting blend involving desktop PCs, laptops and consoles, mobile phones and tablets, physical and digital distribution of the games, and cloud gaming services (e.g. Stadia or GeForce Now). An overlooked aspect for digital games are their consequent carbon emissions worldwide, and their demands on electricity networks. As gaming continues to grow, we must shape this growth in sustainable ways.

Through a mix of qualitative and quantitative field work, this project will: (1) Map out how gaming is composed in Sweden (demographics, devices, services, delivery, genre and playstyle); (2) Use this composition to model the energy and environmental footprint for different forms of gaming; (3) Uncover the meanings and practicalities of both older and newer forms of playing games, charting the next decade’s possible trajectories. (4) Evaluate the footprint of these trajectories.