When discussing climate change, video games might not seem like obvious allies. However, as the games industry gathers in Cologne for the Gamescom event (August 20-24), a pioneering initiative demonstrates that games can significantly boost environmental awareness and drive behavior change.
In late 2024, Play2Act, a partnership between PlanetPlay and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), entered its second phase, integrating climate-related prompts into popular games.
These aren’t niche educational games, but hits like Pokémon GO, Subway Surfers, Beatstar, and Avakin Life, where environmental prompts seamlessly integrate with gameplay.
**Remarkable Results**
The first survey phase from earlier this summer yielded impressive results. Over 181,000 players from 189 countries, including 70 Least Developed Countries or Small Island Developing States, engaged with the environmental messages.
The participating games reached over 80 million people weekly. Data shows 79% of players exposed to the green messages reported making a positive environmental change in their lives. Nearly half altered their energy use or public transport habits, and more than a third shifted to greener consumption choices.
For PlanetPlay CEO Rhea Loucas, the conclusion is evident: “When sustainability is embedded into gameplay, it doesn’t just inform—it inspires real action.”
Insights from the EU and UK indicated a pattern similar yet distinct from global trends. Players in these regions responded well to energy-saving messages, likely influenced by recent regional energy price spikes.
Among younger audiences, especially Gen Z and Millennials, there was a notable shift towards sustainable consumption, reflecting heightened environmental awareness.
The findings show that gaming outreach not only works on a large scale but can also be tailored to specific socio-economic contexts.
Play2Act is part of the broader Games Realising Effective & Affective Transformation (GREAT) initiative, funded by the EU Horizon programme and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), with PlanetPlay as an active participant.
GREAT’s mission extends beyond raising awareness. It aims to open dialogue between citizens and policymakers, using games to gather insights into public attitudes on climate issues and use them for policy recommendations. Game developers gain valuable insight into their players’ passions.
The initiative employs various formats: quick mobile games for gathering quantitative data and longer, collaborative experiences for exploring social dilemmas and generating qualitative insights.
Accessibility and inclusivity are priorities from the outset, ensuring diverse demographic and geographic participation.
The programme’s momentum has accelerated with the launch of Play2Act2, reaching more than a million European gamers and collecting deeper insights into sustainability and attitudes towards green policy.
Highlights included a Cyprus classroom project integrating Sustainable Development Goals into educational gameplay and projects like “Green Jobs” and “Green Roofs”, which allow exploration of policymaking and urban sustainability solutions.
GREAT’s academic credibility is growing, with features in journals like Nature Climate Change and Games & Culture, and dissemination through policy briefs, videos, and whitepapers on gaming’s social potential.
The initiative has been presented at significant events including Rotterdam’s EU Cultural & Creative Industries meeting, New York’s Games for Good Summit, SXSW London, and the European Green Cities Conference in Berlin.
Looking ahead, Q3 will see the launch of Play2Act3, a GREAT project conference, and the release of a comprehensive whitepaper on policy recommendations.
Games’ appeal as climate engagement tools lies in their unique strengths. Popular titles transcend age, geography, and language, providing vast reach. Game worlds fully engage players, so messages naturally woven into gameplay are more likely to resonate.
Virtual environments allow safe experimentation with sustainable behaviors, while multiplayer and social features amplify behavioral changes through peer influence.
Play2Act has shown that games can influence individual choices. GREAT is advancing this by transforming behavioral insights into policy design inputs.
The first Play2Act phase saw 20 gaming studios, including major players like Niantic, Rovio, Microsoft/Xbox Insider, and Bandai Namco, participating. These partnerships show sustainability can be integrated without disrupting engagement or harming monetization, sometimes increasing player involvement.
The findings challenge the concern that serious topics might repel players. Instead, creatively and respectfully presenting climate themes enhances player enjoyment.
The broader message is that climate change is both a policy and cultural challenge. Game worlds are interactive, emotional, and scalable spaces for envisioning and acting on sustainable futures.
By combining play’s immersive qualities with climate crisis urgency, initiatives like Play2Act and GREAT may pioneer a new genre—a game for climate action.
As Phases 2 and 3 progress and gaming-policy connections deepen, the potential for impact increases. Millions are already playing. The question is not if games can inspire climate action, but how far this model can be taken.