Making gaming greener: £1m project will help Europe’s video and board game industries
Video and board game industries across Europe will be helped to grow sustainably as part of a new multimillion pound research project.
Manchester Met has been awarded £1 million to support game development industries - estimated to be worth €23.3bn and providing employment for 98,000 people - in making vital transformations in their business and production practices to become cleaner and greener.
The project will investigate the practices and impacts of these industries, help to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, develop policy recommendations and toolkits to improve sustainability, and create a game that will promote and communicate the goals of the 2020 European Green Deal.
Its work with Europe’s digital and board game developers will promote games as a way of engaging diverse audiences on climate crisis issues and supporting wider societal changes.
Manchester Met is providing scientific leadership for the project, with business, humanities and natural sciences among the University’s research areas set to support the €3.9m Horizon Europe funded STRATEGIES (Sustainable Transition for Europe’s Game Industries) project.
Dr Paul Wake, STRATEGIES scientific lead, said: “This project will provide vital support to an important creative and cultural industry in meeting Europe’s climate goals, and we’re thrilled to be working with such a vibrant group of researchers and industry professionals. We’re looking forward to getting started and seeing the impact of our work, which will ultimately lead to a greener game industry that is better adapted to the challenges of climate change.”
Joost Raessens, Professor of Media Theory at Utrecht University and the Project Coordinator, added: “The focus of the project will be two-fold: reducing the impact and harm of game development, and supporting game developers in using games to change minds, attitudes and behaviours.”
According to current estimations, game development emissions exceed 25m tonnes of CO2 each year, with the European board game market size expanding rapidly and expected to reach revenues of approximately €3.7 billion by 2023. In Europe, 52% of people aged between six to 64 years play video games.
The European Green Deal is a set of policy initiatives set by the European Commission in 2020 with the overarching aim of making the European Union climate neutral in 2050.
Manchester Met brings to the STRATEGIES consortium expertise from the Manchester Game Centre, while researchers in the Department of Natural Sciences will provide guidance on climate change science, environmental management and carbon literacy training. The University will also help to develop environmental and sustainable strategies, and support with applied business research.
The project was created by a consortium of 15 partners, from nine different countries. Drawing on expertise from researchers across six universities, and strong partnerships with NGOs and game companies, it was led by Dr Chloé Germaine and Dr Paul Wake from Manchester Met. STRATEGIES is co-ordinated by Utrecht University, with scientific leadership from Manchester Met.
The STRATEGIES consortium comprises TH Kohn – University of Applied Sciences, Aalborg University, the University of Warsaw, University of Malta, games advisors SpielFabrique, industry incubators Dutch Game Garden, game developers Goat Gamez, indie game studio Charles Games, board game development studio Mighty Boards, non-profit association for the Finnish games industry Neogames, climate action charity Possible, platform Charisma Entertainment, and indie games developer Tabletop Playground.
The STRATEGIES project will begin in February 2024 and run until 2028. For more information go to STRATEGIES (strategieshorizon.eu)
