E-sports Big Business Issue 552, grasp every e-sports business opportunity
Text| Liu Liu
The gaming industry is growing rapidly around the world, and the size of the gaming market is growing, while at the same time the impact on the environment is increasing. According to statistics, in the United States alone, players consume 24 megatons of carbon dioxide per year on the game, equivalent to the carbon emissions of more than 5 million cars.
In recent years, major game companies around the world, such as Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft, have begun to join the environmental protection cause, and have successively launched environmentally friendly game products that do not affect the game experience of players, minimize energy consumption, and make players realize that games will produce a lot of carbon emissions.
Xbox Series X energy costs $283.20, PS5234.45, Switch $143.46
Microsoft has been committed to environmental protection in recent years, aiming to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2023, and is working towards this goal. Recently, Microsoft announced that Xbox has become the world's first carbon-aware game console, and will optimize the update and download schedule of all versions of Xbox to minimize carbon emissions.
According to Microsoft, when Xbox's network connectivity and regional carbon intensity data is available, Xbox schedules downloads and updates for the time when the most renewable energy can be utilized. Microsoft's Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X, which Microsoft currently sells, will be carbon conscious, reduce the use of fossil fuels and carbon dioxide emissions, and potentially save users money.
In addition, in the upcoming Xbox system update, Microsoft will also automatically update the player's energy-saving shutdown power option of the host that year, according to Microsoft's official statement, compared with sleep mode, energy-saving shutdown mode can reduce power consumption by up to 20 times when the console is turned off. Microsoft says that every year that 2 Xbox consoles switch to energy-saving shutdown mode will save the equivalent of carbon emissions removed by a tree planted and grown for 10 years.
In terms of environmental protection, as Microsoft's rival, game manufacturer Sony is not to be outdone. In 2020, the PS5 was released worldwide, leading in terms of power consumption and carbon dioxide emissions when compared side-by-side with Microsoft's Xbox Series X. According to a new study called "Console Carbon Footprint", the Sony PS5 will be the greenest game console in gaming history, with CO2 emissions reduced by 68.6% compared to Microsoft's Xbox Series X overall.
Detailed data shows that the Sony PS5 is expected to produce about 0.022kg of carbon dioxide emissions per hour, while the Microsoft Xbox Series X is equipped with a more powerful GPU, so it produces about 0.07kg of carbon dioxide emissions in the same time.
Also in 2020, the game console launched by Japanese game giant Nintendo, the Switch, also joined the field of environmental protection. The study examines the cost of a console's "lifespan," which is the expected amount of time a player retains and uses the console before upgrading to the next generation console. The study found that the Switch is the most energy-efficient of all current consoles, with a "life-by-life" energy cost of about $143.46.
The switch's energy costs are much lower than current rivals the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Studies show that the XSX has a "life-by-life" energy cost of $283.20, compared to $234.45 for the PS5. The study also looked at previous generations of home consoles and found that older Nintendo models also consumed less energy than competitors.
The study not only considered energy costs, but also looked at the prices of accessories, games, and services per console to calculate the total lifetime cost of each console. Ultimately, the Switch remains the lowest-cost host in the current generation of consoles, costing an average of about $1244.68 over a lifetime. XSX is well above that number, coming to $2313.15. The PS5 is the most expensive console, with a total cost of $2429.69 over its lifetime.
Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo as the three giants of the current game console industry, through various data research believe that their products are the lowest energy consumption, such a competitive relationship can also make these game manufacturers invest more manpower and material resources in the field of environmental protection, become a powerful force for environmental protection.
The United Nations launches the "Play Games, Save the Earth" alliance, Ubisoft and Tencent enter the "Game × Environmental Protection"
Around World Oceans Day 2018, Minecraft asked players to build 10 million underwater coral reefs in the game. After the goal was achieved, the game officially donated to the Global Coral Reef Alliance, turning the virtual coral reef in the game into a real 15,000 coral individuals in the Caribbean.
In September 2019, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched the "Play Games, Save the Planet" alliance at the UN Climate Summit, hoping to join forces with the global gaming industry to raise public awareness of environmental protection. The first members of the alliance are Sony, Ubisoft, Microsoft, Twitch, Supercell, etc., and Tencent TiMi Studio was invited to join in March 2021 and won the "Green Game Creative Program" and the annual "Fastest Implementation Award" of the United Nations Environment Programme for its "Carbon Island".
After joining the program, Sony promised to record the carbon footprint of each host device and encourage gamers to adopt energy-saving modes. It is reported that Sony has used various technologies to reduce PS4 power consumption and reduce carbon emissions by 16 million tons. Microsoft will reduce carbon emissions in the console supply chain by 30% by 2030 and guarantee zero carbon release from 800,000 Xbox devices. Several other manufacturers have also pledged to help environmental protection in a variety of ways, such as environmentally friendly materials, reducing the use of plastic products, and planting trees.
Google is preparing to produce a Guide to Sustainable Game Development through cloud gaming platform Google Stadia and funding teams that research environmental measures within the game.
Tencent SSV Carbon Neutrality Lab, together with mobile games such as CrossFire, Peace Elite, Carbon Island, Honor of Kings, League of Legends, etc., launched the "If Low-Carbon Life Were the Entertainment Circle" low-carbon science knowledge activity, successfully driving 2 million users to learn low-carbon knowledge online.
Ubisoft promised to add environmental incentives to the game during the 2022 Green Game Jam, which are currently added to the game.
Green Game Jam is an industry event dedicated to protecting the environment in various ways, such as green action and energy conservation and emission reduction. This year's theme is "Food, Forests and Our Future". Ubisoft games included Brawl, Hungry Shark: World, Rock Smith+ and Track Frenzy.
"Heroic War"
Brawl players can purchase a specific in-game emote, which will plant a small world tree. All proceeds will go to Ecologi, an organization dedicated to reforestation projects. The Spirit of the Souls team conducted a 12-hour charity livestream to help work on another reforestation charity, One Tree Planted.
In 2022, environmental advocacy and consulting firm AfterClimate revealed in a new report that the gaming industry has committed $17 billion of its revenue to net-zero emissions. The Gaming Industry Net Zero 2022 Brief Study analyzes the self-reported ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance; environmental, social and governance) statistics and commitments. Nineteen companies, including Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft, have set target dates for achieving net zero.
With many gamers around the world, game manufacturers support environmental protection through in-game activities and reducing the carbon emissions of game consoles.
Note: The images used in this article are from the Internet