The United Nations reached more than 108 million players through the Green Game Jam in 2024, according to the Playing for the Planet annual impact report.
And in a year when financial pressure was heavy for the game industry, the UN said Playing for the Planet’s members’ environmental commitments held firm as those members committed to new goals.
Sam Barratt of the UN said the Playing for the Planet Alliance has 58 members, up from 50 a year ago. Barratt is the chief of youth, education & advocacy at the United Nations’ Environment Programme. The group has 36 studios, seven industry supporters, and 15 trade associations.
Those members are in the midst of the current 2025 Green Game Jam as well as the Green Web Game Jam. That campaign has already reached more than 50,000 players with messages about why nature matters, Barratt said.
The whole point is to inspire people through play about the importance of nature and how to act to save the planet. The report has sections that show players expressing opinions and perspectives around what they want to see change in the world, around nature, the environment and more.
Barratt said the UN is helping game studios set Net Zero science-based targets. The group will talk more about its goals at Gamescom. And there will also be a Green Game Summit in London in October.
“What we want to do is start to show that actually the video games community really cares about the real world, the natural world, and they want to see more action on that,” Barratt said. “So we’re going to start to think about how we start to share this with different political figures and ministers, to let them know that the games industry really wants more action on these issues.”
This year, the U.S. under the Trump administration has been backing off on climate change efforts. Barratt declined to comment on that in an interview with GamesBeat, but he said, “The political context has changed. But the science hasn’t changed. We think this is a critical decade where it will determine the following decade. So all the actions we take today have dividends 10 years out.”
The full report is available to download here.
Susan Gardner, director of ecosystems division at UN Environment, said in a statement, “The achievements of the alliance over this period should not be underestimated. Members and partners within the industry have shared knowledge to inspire effective climate action, introduced production innovations which have substantially reduced the industry’s carbon footprint, and empowered over a billion players around the world to take positive action to support the climate.”
The main highlights of the report are:
- Green Game Jam: The annual jamreached over 108 million daily active users, with 45 participating games (a 73% increase from 2023), including PUBG Mobile’s Play for Green activation, which was played over 1.4 billion times.
- Carbon Calculator beta launch: 22 member studios beta tested Playing for the Planet’s Carbon Calculator, which is now available for games organisations across the industry to start measuring and taking action on their emissions.
- New innovations: From Ubisoft’s cardboard box edition of Skull & Bones to further evolutions of the Xbox Sustainability Toolkit and Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Climate Station, Alliance members continued to raise the bar for industry action on the environment.
- Leaders recognised: The first ever Playing for the Planet Awards ceremony took place in Helsinki, celebrating progress being undertaken on the sustainability agenda by studios, games and individuals in the sector.
Tommi Lappalainen, Senior Sustainability Manager, Rovio said in a statement, “Playing for the Planet isn’t just a membership; it’s a vital catalyst. Through this Alliance we have been able to learn and share our learnings. It’s a powerful reminder that together, we can achieve far more than we ever could alone.”
The report also outlines its goals for 2025, which include:
- Growth: Already this year, the Alliance has made headway on this agenda, with new members such as Tencent Games, GameDistribution, and Video Games Poland joining the initiative.
- Decarbonization: The Alliance is developing new guidance for studios to make public commitments on Net Zero targets, as well as working with engine and platform holders to consider new ways to improve gaming’s energy efficiency upstream.
- Inspiring action through play: The Green Game Jam 2025 has focused on the theme Nurture Yourself with Nature, with the global campaign already reaching over 50,000 players. This year’s jam awards event will be combined with a Green Game Summit, both of which are set to take place in October 2025 in London.
- Research and insight: Playing for the Planet will continue to explore new avenues for innovation and impact, building on the research carried out with 58,000 players, and examining the impact of artificial intelligence on the industry’s sustainable goals.
In a period marked by both climate and industry uncertainty, 2024 saw Playing for the Planet members coming together to hold steady on their sustainability commitments, while innovating in new areas of environmental leadership.
Clearly a lot more work remains to be done, and alongside new initiatives emerging from across the sector, including CleanPlay, Dots.eco, PlanetPlay, and the Sustainable Games Alliance, Playing for the Planet continues to drive momentum on this work in order to keep a truly sustainable games industry within reach, the UN said.
Barratt noted that efforts like CleanPlay are aimed at reducing the energy costs and consumption upstream, resulting in lower energy consumption by game consoles.
The global effort has been going on between the UN and games for six years. Barratt said there are new conversations the alliance is having with studios in Asia Pacific that are promising.
“And we’re really pleased that Tencent games is committing to work on this and engage their studios on this agenda,” Barratt said.
