The latest research from French carbon accounting agency Greenly shows that the carbon emission intensity of purchasing physical games is 100 times that of downloading digital versions. The Gaming Carbon Footprint report comprehensively assesses the environmental impact of PCs, consoles, mobile and handheld gaming devices.
Research points out that physical games generate significant carbon footprints in disc manufacturing, packaging and transportation. For every 1 million game discs produced, 312 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) will be emitted in the manufacturing and packaging processes alone. Downloading the same number of 70GB digital games will only produce 3 tons of carbon emissions.
Report author Stephanie Safdie said: "Although cloud gaming requires continuous connection to high-energy-consuming servers, the ongoing impact of physical game manufacturing and packaging cannot be ignored. Although the digital version involves household electricity and data center energy consumption, it will not generate landfills and electronic waste problems caused by physical games."
The research report pointed out that game consoles in the United States consume 3.9 terawatt hours of electricity annually, which is equivalent to 1.6 million tons of carbon emissions. After adding the energy consumption of TVs, the annual emissions increase to 2.6 million tons. PC gamers use PCs for an average of 2 hours and 25 minutes a day and emit 84 kilograms of carbon dioxide annually. After manufacturing emissions are included, the annual carbon footprint of the world's 1.86 billion PC users reaches 277 million tons.
The average daily gaming time of a single mobile game user is 97 minutes, and 20 kilograms of carbon dioxide are emitted annually. Although the single volume is small, the total annual emissions of the world's 2.9 billion mobile players reach 58 million tons. Although cloud gaming does not require physical equipment, server energy consumption still constitutes an environmental burden, with each hour of gaming producing 0.44 kilograms of carbon emissions.
Handheld devices such as Nintendo Switch have become the most environmentally friendly choice with an average annual carbon emissions of 13.8 kilograms. "The carbon intensity of the manufacturing process is low, but the actual impact is slightly higher when connected to a TV," the study states.
The report specifically affirmed that Microsoft's digital-only Xbox series uses energy-saving design and recycled materials, making it "one of the most environmentally friendly products on the market."