The general gaming industry has come a long way in the last 20 years. Perhaps the most noticeable difference has been the shift from physical copies of games in plastic game boxes to a more digital, hardware-free download. Rather than having to go to the shop and buy a plastic case for a game, gamers can now stream games via the cloud, purchase subscription-based libraries of games, or even play directly on smartphones or the web.

But digital distribution is transforming not only the nature of the gaming experience but also the environmental impact of playing games. Digital download offers a significant reduction in the physical manufacturing and distribution impacts, but its own environmental impact through extensive data centers, network equipment and e-marketplaces remains.

Digital Distribution Is More Than Downloading Games

In our minds, digital gaming evokes the image of buying a downloadable game, which once was available on a disc. This is only part of the story, though, as the current digital distribution landscape is far wider.

This includes free-to-play games, subscription systems, mobile gaming, cloud gaming services, as well as reward-based gaming. Gamers can try a wide variety of titles without having to buy a disc for each game they want to play.

The shift away from physical media has changed how players obtain and pay for video games. In the contemporary digital environment, downloadable titles, subscription access to libraries, free-to- play offerings, cloud services, and games that pay real money instantly without paying a traditional purchase price. Though the various business models differ greatly, each offers the potential for a gaming experience that can be obtained in digital form without an independently manufactured disc, plastic case, printed insert, or even a retail package.

The Waste Tied to Physical Games

Physical games require much more than the game package itself. An ordinary box set can consist of the disc, plastic case, artwork, manuals, promotional materials or advertisements, shipping boxes, and bubble wrap.

The materials and energy used to produce them are also required for their manufacture. When you buy a game, it then needs to travel (by who knows what method of transportation) through a supply chain before it reaches the retailer, or even the customer. Transportation adds a further dimension of emissions to that process.

Another consideration is disposal. Although some physical components like discs can be resold and recycled, others such as the packaging and cases soon become waste. While games can sit on shelves for years, the physical media can eventually become another source of electronic and plastic waste.

This removes much of the physical packaging related to games. There is no need for the manufacture of the discs, no need for plastic cases and no need for individual packaging from the factory to a retail shop.

The Environmental Cost Does Not Disappear

Yet digital games should not automatically be seen as environmentally friendly. Digital products rely heavily on a “large technological infrastructure.”

Downloading a large game needs electricity at data centers, across internet networks and into the individual devices consumers use. Cloud gaming might require additional electricity due to uninterrupted data flow as the game is played on the screen and processed remotely.

Computer electricity: data centers, network devices. Data centers consume electricity for computing and cooling. The networks also use electricity to transmit the data between the server and the users. PC console mobiles and TVs consume electricity to power up.

The environmental effects of these digital game consumption technologies will be proportional to the size of games, the duration of play, the efficiency of hardware and the internet, and the power consumption of data centers and networks.

Why Digital Models Can Still Reduce Material Use

Still, digital distribution offers an advantage in that there is less requirement for public hardware per game copy.

A digital title can be released to millions of players without having to make millions of plastic cases and discs. Patches and updates can be filed off to the players as well.

Another advantage of digital storefronts that publishers appreciate is that they allow released titles to have a longer lifespan. Instead of releasing a new generation of physical game media, publishers can continue to add downloadable content and patches to a digital release.

Subscription and free-to-play revenue sources will also influence consumer buying behavior. Physical copies of games will no longer need to be created for every title a gamer chooses to play, with title libraries available through a single digital service.

Gaming’s Next Environmental Challenge

The way forward for gaming is probably some kind of hybrid of digital delivery, cloud, mobile and online infrastructure. As these become more prevalent, the debate around the industry’s environment will increasingly focus on issues beyond packaging and waste.

Developers and platform providers can lessen their effects by optimizing software, utilizing hardware for longer timeframes and generations, using renewable energy and investing in infrastructure that consumes less. Consumers can also have an impact by keeping hardware for longer, repairing hardware where feasible and resisting upgrading their hardware.

In the end, online gaming has not abolished the environmental problem as much as it has replaced it. Digital distribution, though it comes without packaging, creates no material waste and requires less transportation and inventory, but it dramatically increases the share of the game-maker’s energy use attributable to its electric servers, power needs, networks, and computers. This deserves analytical understanding to do it justice.