Tencent, Apple, Nintendo, and Ubisoft Spearhead Carbon Reduction in 2022

Tencent, Apple, Nintendo, and Ubisoft Spearhead Carbon Reduction in 2022

The gaming industry, which AfterClimate likened to "the carbon footprint of a small country," has witnessed mixed results in its carbon reduction efforts. The 2023 AfterClimate report divulged that prominent names like Tencent, Apple, Nintendo, and Ubisoft managed to curtail their carbon emissions from 2021 to 2022. However, other major players like Sega, NetEase, and Unity experienced a spike in their emissions.

Tencent led the pack with a significant 13.73% reduction in emissions year-on-year. Apple wasn't far behind with an 11% decrease, while Nintendo and Ubisoft marked reductions of 2.95% and 0.14%, respectively. Conversely, Unity's carbon footprint swelled by a notable 32.4% in 2022, trailed by giants like Google, Sony, and Microsoft, which posted increases between 16.5% and 18%.

The report by AfterClimate, which reviewed the environmental disclosures of 34 behemoths from the tech and gaming sectors, emphasized that 2021 was an anomalous year due to the pandemic, which might have influenced the 2022 data.

via AfterClimate

These 34 corporations reported a staggering 81 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions for 2022. The lion's share of this carbon footprint emanates from tech juggernauts like Tencent, Sony, Microsoft, Google, and Apple. However, the exact proportion related to gaming remains ambiguous. Excluding these tech titans, the residual companies disclosed over seven million tonnes in 2022. AfterClimate's projections indicate that the overall footprint of the gaming sector exceeds 14 million tonnes of CO₂, outpacing national emissions of countries like Bolivia, Greece, and Finland.

Yet, several firms, including Square Enix, Epic Games, Supercell, Roblox, and Konami, have either not shared their emissions data or provided only partial disclosures. In a noteworthy observation, just Embracer, Bandai Namco, and CD Projekt Red have shared the carbon footprint of their consumer base in their environmental reports.

Highlighting this oversight, AfterClimate underscored the largely uncharted territory of the global gaming audience's carbon footprint, urging the sector to shift its attention to this vital aspect.

Source: Games Industry.biz