Designing a Toolkit for Visualising Desirable Sustainable Futures in Video Games

This research outlines the design of a toolkit aimed at enabling game artists and art directors to visualize desirable, sustainable futures within video games. The core premise is that fostering collective action towards sustainability requires the ability to imagine such futures, a process that video games, with their global reach and cultural impact, are uniquely positioned to facilitate through visual aesthetics. The document highlights that while many games depict future scenarios, these are predominantly dystopian, post-apocalyptic, or business-as-usual, with "disciplined" futures (characterized by values-shifts towards sustainability) being significantly underrepresented.

The methodology employed is research through design (RtD), which involves creating a tangible toolkit through participatory design with industry stakeholders. Preliminary research included an online survey conducted between March and May 2025, gathering insights from 103 global participants, including game designers, artists, and art directors. The survey, which had a 95% confidence level with a ±9.7% margin of error, explored past experiences with future scenarios, challenges in visualizing sustainable futures, and preferences for reference materials and tools. Over 50% of respondents had six or more years of industry experience.

Key findings from the preliminary survey indicate a strong interest among participants in working on sustainable (70%), solarpunk (68%), and hopeful (67%) futures, with "hopeful futures" strongly associated with "sustainable futures." While 57.8% had previously worked on post-apocalyptic games, only 44.2% wished to do so again, whereas 69.2% expressed interest in sustainable futures. Major challenges identified for integrating sustainability included combining sustainable imaginaries with engaging gameplay (57%), representing complex systems accurately (56%), avoiding heavy-handed messaging (56%), and balancing fiction with correct environmental science (52%). Participants overwhelmingly preferred digital tools for worldbuilding references (85% always or often use them).

Preferred toolkit components included examples of sustainable worldbuilding from other media (72.8%), comprehensive guides on key concepts like circular economies and agroecology (71.8%), and real-world case studies of sustainability solutions (68.9%). Tools for integrating diverse cultural perspectives (59.2%) and design patterns for regenerative environments (56.3%) were also highly desired. Notably, art directors, a key target audience, prioritized asset creation guidelines for sustainable world elements (76%). The next stages of the research involve participatory design sessions and a "Regenerate Game Jam" in early 2026 to test and refine the toolkit prototype, followed by documentation and publication in 2026-2027. The initial direction for the toolkit will focus on a game development-specific adaptation of the "seeds for a good anthropocene" approach, incorporating real-world examples and key concepts.