Introduction

 In 2022, roughly 3 billion people, or one in every three people in the world, regularly played computer games, either on their phone, computer, or some kind of gaming console. Analysts predict that the video game market will bring in over $200 billion in 2024. If you think about it, people are wired to play games, it’s actually something that’s helped us evolve as a species.

The Arsht Rockefeller Foundation has put together an initiative to share climate-change-resiliency solutions by 2030. Their goal: to reach one billion people. Video games have shown they not only bring people together, but also help mobilize collective action. But what about the environmental impact? We take a look at what digital games can cost the planet as well as the benefits of designing climate-resilient video games.

• Rosemary Mann leads video gaming strategy at the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center.
• Chance Glasco is the creative director of Good Dog Studios and a nonresident senior fellow at the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center.
• Juni Yeung is a music teacher, author, cultural historian, and interpreter.
• Ben Abraham is the founder of the research and consultancy group, AfterClimate, and the author of Digital Games After Climate Change.
• Marina Psaros is head of sustainability at Unity Technologies.