Reducing the negative impact in the gaming industry is happening now

We are convinced that we can’t wait much longer and that we must act resolutely. Google is aspiring to achieve the Paris climate change agreements and to help others to do so as well. That is why we are sharing tips and tricks on how to reduce your negative impact and what the Google Cloud Platform can do for you.

Lowering emissions from your day-to-day operations in the office, when commuting and on business trips doesn’t have to be difficult. Organizations should start by looking at reducing the impact of low-hanging fruit. Start sorting garbage, choose green energy, and buy local or organic food. It doesn’t need to be challenging to change habits in your office and raise recognition among staff, and this can serve as a lever for more action and an even greater impact. Some changes are only one click away; others may require a cultural change.

For instance, with heating. If your thermostat can determine for 60% how high your energy bill is, wouldn't it also help you save energy? That's exactly what the Nest Thermostat does. Since 2011, it has saved billions of kWh of energy in millions of buildings worldwide. That's because it learns from active energy consumption. It even learns how long it takes to heat an office or how drafty the office is and, therefore, only consumes the energy necessary. In this way, the Nest Thermostat saves energy.

Another way to reduce emissions is to reduce employees’ commute. During the latest COVID-19 lockdowns all over the world, everyone was restricted to working from home. If you are not familiar with G Suite, Google’s revolutionary office toolbox with applications such as GMail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Jamboard, and Hangouts, with real-time collaboration built for the cloud, teams can work in parallel to move faster than ever before. For example, Atlassian has improved collaboration – particularly with remote workers – for critical tasks such as developing new features for core products with Jamboard. Learn more about Atlassian’s success story here.

Since video game distribution accounts for some of the largest emissions, this should be one priority. As they are not explicitly linked to the organization, these emissions are often invisible. Instead, a contractor or utility provider, such as a hosting service or a distributor, produces the emissions. Gaming firms should opt for distributors that use sustainable shipping methods or sustainable packaging. With our help, Lush created a method to reduce packaging while maintaining information about ingredients and use, which can be seen here.

A 2015 report calculated that while gaming computers - excluding consoles - constitute just 2.5 percent of personal computers worldwide, they account for 20 percent of global computing energy consumption. Therefore, gaming is recognized as the most energy-intensive activity for smartphones and computers. 

For hosting, Google’s data centers have shown time and time again to be among the most efficient, with a weighted-average Power Use Efficiency rate of 1.11. Furthermore, in 2020, for the fourth year in a row, we purchased enough renewable energy to match 100 percent of our annual global electricity consumption. We’re proud of achieving this milestone on the road to achieving an even more ambitious goal: sourcing enough carbon-free energy to match our consumption in every place where we operate, at every hour of the year. When choosing Google’s data centers for your hosting, your carbon emissions are immediately decreased to zero. 

Carbon emissions from the hardware required to play games and the need for new hardware when older models lose compatibility are another issue. This causes a need to produce even more products. A huge impact can be achieved by changing how hardware is produced, how often players are forced to replace it, and by making it easier for everyone to choose a better solution when disposing of hardware.

Google Stadia is Google’s game streaming service. With Stadia, it doesn’t matter which hardware gamers have. The only thing they need is a basic, stable internet connection. There is no need for hardware upgrades when newer and more onerous games are released. Gamers can play whenever and wherever they want, on a Chromecast, smartphone, or laptop. Making games available on Stadia enables users worldwide to play your games without buying or upgrading to an expensive console or graphics card.

Making small changes to distributors and service providers can have a big impact on your net emissions. Google is here to support organizations on their way to a carbon-free future. Questions? Do not hesitate to ask one of our experts on reducing your carbon footprint.