A new Sustainable Games Standard framework aims to assist studios in gauging and diminishing their emissions

A global non-profit cooperative, the Sustainable Games Alliance (SGA), comprising game developers, academic institutions, and related companies, has introduced the Sustainable Games Standard. This represents the "first global emissions reporting framework tailored specifically for the gaming sector."

The SGA asserts that this new standard is designed with the distinctive requirements of the gaming industry and its supply chain in mind, addressing various aspects from the creation of games to server operations, marketing, and hardware management.

This freely accessible framework is intended for use by all studios, whether large AAA teams or smaller indie groups. It aims to enable firms to monitor gaming-specific emissions more precisely, assess performance across different games and companies, identify opportunities to cut costs while reducing environmental impact, and meet emerging regulations in Europe and other regions.

Additionally, it will support developers in improving energy efficiency, extending device battery life, minimizing hardware demands, optimizing game performance, and enhancing the user experience.

Maria Wagner, Managing Director of the Sustainable Games Alliance, noted, “The Sustainable Games Standard provides an industry-specific framework that reflects the real-world process of game development, translating ambitions into tangible impacts.”

She further emphasized that this initiative is a collaborative effort, bringing together companies, industry bodies, and academics under a unified standard to foster substantial change. "Our goal is to establish gaming as the leading sustainable form of entertainment, and coordinated industry action based on widely available, comparable data is crucial to achieving that vision," Wagner added.