How games are mobilising millions for climate action

When the subject of climate change comes up, video games might seem an unlikely ally. But as the games industry prepares to descend on Cologne next week for its annual Gamescom get-together (August 20-24th), a groundbreaking initiative is proving that the same titles millions turn to for entertainment can also be powerful drivers of environmental awareness and behaviour change.

Launched at the end of 2024, Play2Act, a collaboration between not-for-profit PlanetPlay and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is now entering its second phase of weaving quick climate-related prompts and questions into the world’s most popular games. 

These are not niche educational titles, but mainstream hits such as Pokémon GO!, Subway Surfers, Beatstar, and Avakin Life, where environmental nudges appeared seamlessly alongside the core gameplay loop.

Impressive Numbers

The results from the first phase of the survey earlier this summer were impressive. More than 181,000 players across 189 countries, including 70 designated as Least Developed Countries or Small Island Developing States, actively engaged with the messages. 

Behind those responses sat an even more staggering reach: the participating games collectively reached more than 80 million people every week. 

The behavioural data told an encouraging story; 79% of players who encountered the green messaging reported making at least one positive environmental change in their lives. 
Almost half altered their habits around energy use or public transport, and more than a third shifted towards greener consumption choices.

For PlanetPlay CEO Rhea Loucas, the lesson is clear.

“When sustainability is embedded into gameplay, it doesn’t just inform—it inspires real action,”

Insights from the EU and UK suggested a pattern that both mirrored and diverged from global trends. Players in these regions were particularly responsive to messages about energy-saving, likely influenced by recent spikes in regional energy prices. 

Among younger audiences, especially Gen Z and Millennials, shifts towards sustainable consumption were even more pronounced, reflecting a heightened generational awareness of environmental issues. 

The findings underline that gaming-based outreach not only works at scale but can also be tailored to specific socio-economic contexts.

The Play2Act study is part of the broader Games Realising Effective & Affective Transformation (GREAT) initiative, funded by the EU Horizon programme and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and in which PlanetPlay itself is an active participant. 

GREAT’s mission goes beyond awareness-raising. It aims to foster meaningful dialogue between citizens and policymakers, using games to gather actionable insights into public attitudes on climate issues and translate them into real-world policy recommendations. Participating game makers, meanwhile, gain invaluable insight into their passions of their players.

To achieve this, it employs a spectrum of formats: quick mobile micro-games capable of reaching millions and producing large-scale quantitative data, alongside longer, more collaborative experiences that delve into social dilemmas and generate nuanced qualitative insights.

Accessibility and inclusivity are built in from the outset, ensuring participation across diverse demographics and geographies.

Momentum for the programme has just accelerated with the launch of Play2Act2, which now reaches more than one million gamers across Europe and collects deeper insights into sustainability, civic engagement, and attitudes towards green policy. 

Other highlights from this period included a Cyprus-based classroom project where Sustainable Development Goals were embedded into educational gameplay, sparking real-world conversations among students; a “Green Jobs” pilot that allowed young people to explore policymaking through interactive, gamified tools; and a “Green Roofs” simulation, where players could experiment with nature-based urban solutions in an engaging virtual environment.

The project’s academic credibility is also growing. GREAT’s work has been featured in journals such as Nature Climate Change and Games & Culture, and disseminated through policy briefs, explainer videos, and a whitepaper on the potential of gaming as a force for social good.

On the events circuit, the initiative has made its case at Rotterdam’s EU Cultural & Creative Industries meeting, New York’s Games for Good Summit, SXSW London, and the European Green Cities Conference in Berlin.

Looking ahead, Q3 will see the launch of Play2Act3, a final GREAT project conference, and the release of a comprehensive whitepaper outlining policy recommendations.

The appeal of games as a climate engagement tool lies in a set of unique strengths. Popular titles transcend age, geography, and language barriers, offering unparalleled reach. Because players are already deeply invested in their game worlds, messages woven naturally into the gameplay flow are more likely to be noticed and absorbed. 

Virtual environments also provide a safe space to experiment with sustainable behaviours without real-world consequences, while multiplayer and social features help amplify behavioural shifts through peer influence.

If Play2Act demonstrated that games can nudge individual choices, GREAT is pushing further, turning those behavioural insights into inputs for policy design.
 
The first phase of the Play2Act initiative attracted participation from 20 gaming studios, including major industry players such as Niantic, Rovio, Microsoft/Xbox Insider, and Bandai Namco. These collaborations show that sustainability themes can be integrated without disrupting engagement or harming monetisation—in some cases, player involvement actually increased.

That finding challenges a persistent industry concern: that serious topics risk turning players away. Instead, the evidence suggests that when climate themes are presented with creativity and respect for the player experience, they can enhance rather than detract from enjoyment.

The broader lesson is that climate change is not only a policy challenge but also a cultural one. The worlds built within games are among the most interactive, emotional, and scalable spaces available for encouraging people to imagine and act on sustainable futures. 

By combining the immersive qualities of play with the urgency of the climate crisis, initiatives like Play2Act and GREAT may be pioneering a new genre altogether—a game for climate action.

As Phase 2 and 3 unfold and deeper bridges between gaming and policy emerge, the potential for impact grows. Millions are already playing. The question now is not whether games can inspire climate-friendly action, but how far this model can be scaled.