New Sustainable Games Standard framework hopes to help studios measure and reduce emissions

A global non-profit co-operative of game devs, universities, and associated companies, the Sustainable Games Alliance (SGA), has launched the Sustainable Games Standard, the “first global emissions reporting framework created specifically for the games industry.”

The organization states the Sustainable Games Standard has been “built around the unique needs of the games sector and its value chain,” “covering everything from game design and server infrastructure to marketing and hardware.”

The free framework — available to “studios of all sizes, from AAA to indie” — will help companies track emissions with accuracy specific to games, benchmark performance across titles and companies, identify improvements that cut costs and reduce environmental impact, and comply with new regulations in Europe and beyond.

It will also assist devs to optimize energy consumption and extend battery life, reduce hardware load and optimize performance, and enhance the player experience.

“With the Sustainable Games Standard, the industry finally has a framework that reflects how games are actually made, turning ambition into actionable impact,” explained Maria Wagner, MD of the Sustainable Games Alliance.

“It is a commitment of the industry uniting companies, associations, and researchers under one standard to drive change at scale. Our ambition is to make gaming the most sustainable entertainment medium, and industry-wide strategic action based on easily accessible and comparable data is the only way we’ll get there.”