Only 12 out of 222 surveyed gaming companies have committed to science-based carbon reduction targets, highlighting a significant industry-wide gap in formal climate accountability.
02
Scope 3 emissions—specifically purchased goods (Category 1) and the use of sold products (Category 11)—represent the dominant share of the industry's total carbon footprint.
03
Energy consumption during gameplay varies significantly by hardware, with current-generation consoles drawing 150–200W and PCs reaching up to 300W, compared to only a few watts for mobile devices.
04
The carbon intensity of gaming is highly dependent on regional electricity grids, with 200Wh of consumption resulting in approximately 13gCO2e in France versus 81gCO2e in the United States.
05
The Games Consoles Voluntary Agreement has successfully achieved 54 TWh in energy savings, demonstrating the efficacy of hardware efficiency standards.
06
The Playing for the Planet Alliance has grown to 42 members, signaling a shift toward integrating climate action into both operational practices and game content, such as Ubisoft’s Climate School.
07
Standardized reporting is currently hindered by inconsistent data from cloud and CDN providers, creating a critical research gap in the real-time accounting of use-phase emissions.
Insights
01
Only 12 out of 222 surveyed gaming companies have committed to science-based carbon reduction targets, highlighting a significant industry-wide gap in formal climate accountability.
02
Scope 3 emissions—specifically purchased goods (Category 1) and the use of sold products (Category 11)—represent the dominant share of the industry's total carbon footprint.
03
Energy consumption during gameplay varies significantly by hardware, with current-generation consoles drawing 150–200W and PCs reaching up to 300W, compared to only a few watts for mobile devices.
04
The carbon intensity of gaming is highly dependent on regional electricity grids, with 200Wh of consumption resulting in approximately 13gCO2e in France versus 81gCO2e in the United States.
05
The Games Consoles Voluntary Agreement has successfully achieved 54 TWh in energy savings, demonstrating the efficacy of hardware efficiency standards.
06
The Playing for the Planet Alliance has grown to 42 members, signaling a shift toward integrating climate action into both operational practices and game content, such as Ubisoft’s Climate School.
07
Standardized reporting is currently hindered by inconsistent data from cloud and CDN providers, creating a critical research gap in the real-time accounting of use-phase emissions.