The United Nations Environment Programme’s Playing for The Planet Alliance has released results from its Green Game Jam 2022 Player Survey, giving insight into how players feel about their favorite pastime being used for a greater good. The survey, which was presented to some players of titles like puzzle game Monument Valley 2, sought to gauge gamers’ opinions on the use of games as way to educate players about environmental issues and spur them to take action.

While some gamers may bristle at the thought of what they perceive as any sort of activism being added to their favorite pastime, the gaming industry actually has a long history of placing the spotlight on a wide variety of social and political issues. From the environmental themes present throughout titles like Sega’s classic Ecco the Dolphin series and developer Image & Form’s 2021 release The Gunk, to news that survival game This War of Mine is being used in Polish high school curriculum to explore the civilian experience of war, gaming as a medium has frequently been used to highlight and critique some of the most pressing issues in society.

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In a new report released by the UN Environment Programme’s Playing for the Planet Alliance, the group shared insights gathered from nearly 400,000 gamers over the course of eight months in 2022 through in-game and online surveys. The surveys were given to players of 9 different mobile games from developers participating in the 2022 Green Game Jam, including Ubisoft and Ustwo Games, as well as being available on the Green Game Jam webpage. The questions covered players' awareness of environmental problems and attitudes towards environmental content in games, and were designed to “raise awareness and inform industry stakeholders on the importance of, and interest in, these issues.”

Escherian-style puzzle game Monument Valley 2

The Playing for the Planet Alliance, which previously released findings showing that cloud streaming has a massive carbon footprint, found that the gamers surveyed were extremely receptive to environmental education and messages in games. Over half of those surveyed stated that they believe environmental issues will affect them in their lifetime. Nearly 80% of respondents indicated that they believed games can help players learn about the environment. Not everyone was so open to using games to make the world a greener place, however, with 14% of those surveyed indicating that they would specifically avoid titles with green themes.

Saving the planet usually isn’t the first thing that comes to mind for players when loading up a new release, but this survey shows that gamers appear to be quite open to seeing more green issues addressed in games. And while it’s unlikely that Captain Planet will headline the next Far Cry release, Ubisoft Massive’s Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is sure to have a few things to say about environmentalism if it’s anything like its big-screen counterpart.

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Source: P4P