On Monday at the Metacore headquarters in Helsinki, Finland, the Playing for the Planet Alliance hosted the first-ever Playing for the Planet Awards. The event celebrated and showcased studios within the gaming industry who are leading the field when it comes to sustainability, climate and the environment.
Featuring 13 categories, the Playing for the Planet awards recognized nominees based on a variety of metrics, including storytelling and activations within games, green tech to improve the energy cost of running games, and the work by studios and individuals alike to pioneer decarbonisation and set examples for the wider industry.
“Tonight, we celebrate the progress by the games industry who’ve come together to consider how they can collectively act to address different environmental challenges through their work this year,” said Sam Barratt, Chief of the Youth, Education and Advocacy Unit within the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). “More and more, we’re seeing evidence that gamers want studios to take notice of how they make a meaningful impact in the world outside the entertainment value of video games. In response, a new culture seems to be emerging within the industry where studios are exploring how to add more purpose to their games, which is really encouraging.”
Gameloft’s Dragon Mania Legends and Trailmix’s Love & Pies led the way with two awards each. Dragon Mania Legends’ activation centered on the launch of its Eco Quest - Battery Recycling Edition in-game event and later its real-life challenge of disposing of old batteries. The campaign resulted in more than 240,000 players participating and more than 25,000 players completing all of the challenge’s milestones. For Love & Pies, Trailmix launched a 21-day event where players could unlock stories from fellow fans and global activists. The campaign also encouraged real-world actions with more than 250 players competing and more than photos being shared of players making a positive impact in their communities.
“The Playing for the Planet Green Game Jam provided a unique opportunity for us to connect with our players on a deeply meaningful topic that matters to us all,” said Vincent Wang, Head of PUBG MOBILE Publishing at Tencent Games. “Following the activation, we saw an inspiring level of engagement from our community, with many players taking green actions and feeling motivated to continue making positive environmental choices. It’s clear that campaigns like Play for Green can empower players to consider their impact on the planet and inspire active real-world change."
The full list winners of the 2024 Playing for the Planet Awards are as follows:
The Playing for the Planet Awards followed another successful year for the Green Game Jam, which saw 45 participants create activations that engaged with their players on this year’s theme: Small Actions, Big Impact. Participants focused on three categories: food, waste and restoration, with the goal of getting 1 million players to participate in actions in the real world that would benefit the planet. While the activation fell short of reaching its goal in 2024, there were exciting takeaways, such as:
Playing for the Planet also saw an encouraging 42% of participants in the Green Game Jam actively try to engage with players outside of their games.
All the details on each category's nominee and their initiative can be found HERE.
