But what if games could utilise this impact on the real world to help tackle environmental issues, encouraging green behaviour and sustainability initiatives? Well, they can! In fact, they already are doing just that.
This is according to a new study called Play2Act. Overseen by a not-for-profit organisation called PlanetPlay, an in-game poll was featured in 24 popular games, including mobile favourites like Subway Surfers and Pokémon Go.
We’re told that over 181,000 players from 189 countries responded to the survey questions, which were ‘designed to explore the role of games in tackling the climate and nature crises’.
The most impressive top-line stat was this: from a pool of players that had played ‘games with green messages or environmental content’, a whopping 79 per cent said that they had made ‘at least one positive behavioural change after playing these games’.
Breaking that down slightly, of those players, 47 per cent said that they reduced their environmental impact ‘through energy use or public transport’, and 34 per cent decided to make ‘greener consumption choices’.
Considering the amount of people that responded to this poll, that’s a lot of positive change in the world off the back of in-game content that promotes environmentally friendly behaviour.
To see the full results of the survey, you can head over to the PlanetPlay website.
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Rhea Loucas, the CEO at PlanetPlay, had this to say about the news: "Games are uniquely positioned to engage a vast and diverse audience on environmental issues.
“Seeing so many players adopt greener habits after engaging with green content is a powerful testament to the impact games can have in shaping a more sustainable future.”
Certainly, it’s clear that games have the potential to encourage good behaviour that could help the planet.
If you’d like the money you spend on gaming to go to environmental causes, it’s worth noting that PlanetPlay runs a digital storefront where 100 per cent of its proceeds are donated to certified green projects.
Who knew that your gaming time could help save the world?
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