ReportDataspelsbranschen
Spelbranschens roll i den gröna omställningen
1 Jan 202468 pages~134 min full read
Gaming eco-modes can reduce energy consumption by 20–50% per player, yet current adoption remains at approximately two percent.
See it on page 22Making eco-modes the default setting across the global gaming industry could potentially reduce total energy consumption by three percent.
See it on page 22Core gaming technologies—including game engines, GPUs, AI, and extended reality—are being applied to infrastructure, mining, and climate modeling to drive measurable efficiency gains.
See it on page 32Public-sector projects like Sweco’s metaverse platform, Nacka’s “Greenovation Twin,” and Vasakronan’s Twinfinity utilize digital twins and AR/VR to streamline urban planning and reduce travel-related emissions.
See it on page 34The UN-backed “Peoples’ Climate Vote” demonstrated the sector's mobilization potential by reaching thirty million mobile users.
See it on page 62The 2023 Green Game Jam successfully leveraged gameplay to drive conservation efforts, proving that integrating climate objectives into games can generate tangible donation-linked outcomes.
See it on page 59Sweden’s gaming sector is positioned as a low‑impact yet high‑potential catalyst for the nation’s green transition. Compared with other Swedish industries and the global gaming market, the sector’s carbon emissions are modest, with the majority of resource use occurring during gameplay—a phase that remains difficult to quantify. By leveraging built‑in eco‑modes, energy consumption can fall by 20‑50 % per player, yet adoption is currently around two percent; making such modes the default could raise the estimated global saving to three percent.
The report highlights how core gaming technologies—game engines, GPUs, extended reality and artificial intelligence—are already being transferred to sectors such as infrastructure, mining and climate modelling, delivering measurable efficiency gains and emission reductions. Immersive tools like AR/VR, digital twins and AI are deployed in public‑sector pilots, including Sweco’s metaverse dialogue platform, Nacka’s “Greenovation Twin” and Vasakronan’s Twinfinity, to visualise climate impacts, streamline urban planning and cut travel‑related emissions. Hackathons and serious‑game prototypes further accelerate climate‑focused solutions, while gamified training and board‑game initiatives foster behavioural change and generate transport‑usage data.
Design guidance stresses that games must promote collective action and embed climate objectives into social norms, rather than focusing solely on individual behaviour. Educational programmes and events such as the 2023 Green Game Jam, which linked gameplay to snow‑leopard conservation and generated donation‑linked purchases, demonstrate the sector’s capacity to mobilise large audiences—evidenced by the UN‑backed “Peoples’ Climate Vote” reaching thirty million mobile users.
Collaboration across more than fifty studios
