Ben Abraham

GTG Links No. 22 – May 30th

Riot Games 2022 impact report Riot have released their 2022 annual impact report (direct link to PDF here) with a first-time full scope 1-3 disclosure of their emissions. Notably, there's no disclosure of Scope 3, category 11 "Use of sold products" (gamers playing Riot games, in other words) which is

A quick survey on GTG + barriers to greater sustainability in games

A short one this week as life, once again, has gotten in the way of longer writing. 💡Incidentally – if you know anyone looking to buy a really nice, beautiful old house in Western Sydney, you know how to reach me I've been meaning to do a survey of GTG readers

GTG links no. 21 – 15th May

Sony’s Earth Day update on its enviro plans More use of recycled and reduced use of plastics, and a bit on console energy efficiency: Energy used by consoles in the home constitutes SIE’s largest source of carbon emissions. We estimate that in total, the energy used by PS4

What do high FPS, high graphics settings do to console energy consumption?

Console gaming has gotten much more sophisticated in the past decade. Not only are there more consoles and console sub-generations that people are playing across, but the TV screens they’re plugged into vary more as well. We have HD & 4K resolutions, high-dynamic range (HDR) output options, and high Hz

GTG Links No. 20 – April 21st

We're celebrating Earth Week by poring over new environmental data from some of the biggest games companies in the world ESG season 2023 has properly kicked off Lots of releases since we last checked in (and a few we hadn't swept up yet). Haven't had the chance to dive too

What’s the game industry’s plastic footprint?

Hello! Quick little note at the top before we dive into the main post – once again (and with absolutely zero warning) my book’s publisher is running a steep discount on Digital Games After Climate Change. It’s currently 75% off bringing it down to simply expensive rather than outrageous.

GTG Links No. 19 – April 8th

Welcome back to your one-stop-shop for news and analysis for the sustainable games industry. Let's jump right in. CDProjekt have published their annual ESG report First one out the gate for 2023 (unless I've missed an earlier one – please let me know if I have) and also the first time

Hey kid, wanna build a wind farm? (in Fortnite)

Way back in the dim dark ages of December 2000, a small offshore wind turbine was commissioned and began producing power just off the coast of Sweden. Tiny by todays standards, it consisted of just 7 pylons, each with a capacity factor dwarfed by the modern monsters of the renewable

GTG Links no.18 – March 17

The final week before the sound and fury of GDC kicks off. I wish I could say it was calm before the storm but this week (well fortnight) has seen a huge amount of news. Why we do what we do The image at the top of this post comes

AfterClimate’s 2023 product refresh + some thoughts on the year ahead

At the end of last week’s GTG Links post I mentioned I was planning a refresh of the products and services that we offer at AfterClimate. Despite being kicked to the curb by whatever illness I had earlier, I managed to update the website with the details on the

GTG Links No. 17 – March 5

Hello GTG readers – I tried keeping it short this week, because I have a) been quite ill, and b) I also did something bad to my back so I need to not sit down for too long. As usual however, the volume of news has other ideas. It's also March

AfterClimate’s 2022 emissions, plus a prototype method for monitoring & measuring in the work-from-home era

With 2022 now squarely in the rear view mirror, it’s time to start thinking about the annual emissions reporting process. I make a point of emphasising that the games industry needs to lead by example and get its own emissions down before spending too much time and energy trying

GTG Links No. 16 – Feb 17

It's been a couple weeks since a links post, so I've stored up way, way too much. Strap in for some of the latest climate and energy news relevant to the games industry. Why we do what we do Monthly averaged baseline CO2 levels measured at Kennaook/Cape Grim, Tasmania

What trying to travel low carbon tells us about emissions in games

I spent January interstate, visiting friends, on a sort of open-ended trip, no firm return date. When it came time to plan my trip back from Melbourne to Sydney I wanted to see what it was like to do the climate-friendly thing and avoid flying home. I also wanted to

GTG Links No. 15 – Jan 27th

It's the middle of summer here in Australia – I figured Northern Hemisphere readers might appreciate sharing in the excess sunny vibes this week (it's going to be 37ºC tomorrow). I'm also going to start trialing putting some of my notes on stories behind the paywall – I'll keep the links themselves

How exposed is the game industry to dodgy carbon credits?

The big, BIG news this week is the joint investigation between The Guardian, Die Zeit, and investigative journalists at SourceMaterial, involving studies conducted by several teams of researchers, publishing their findings in three papers so far, pointing to deep, structural problems with certain kinds of carbon credits. The research calls

GTG Links no.14 – Jan 13

Happy new year! 2022 was a landmark year for the games industry as we saw a new level of action on climate and sustainability goals from many corners of the industry. I'm excited for the year ahead and for new opportunities to bend the emissions curve downward. Xbox's new 'carbon

My book is on sale – 70% off

Hey GTG readers, just a super quick one – if you've been holding off on buying a copy of Digital Games After Climate Change because of the extortionate pricing  the publisher Palgrave is running an end of year sale. Use the code PALHC for 70% off (and maybe even free shipping?

GTG Links No. 13 - Dec 17th

Oh no I have saved up too much, too many links. But it's a minor Christmas miracle, a bumper crop of end-of-year links and interesting reading. Enjoy! Nvidia acknowledges green imperatives You could be forgiven for thinking it was not even on their radar, given the insane new power consumption

Where does the impetus for ESG come from, and is it fit for purpose?

One of the questions that has been lurking unarticulated at the back of my mind for a while is the question of who or what is the animating force behind ESG disclosures. I don’t mean in the immediate sense of “who is the author of ESG reports” because that’

GTG Links No. 12 – Nov 25th

Yowza, what a week! The snapshot is out, and I've already had some great conversations about it with a number of different people. Always happy to chat about it with anyone interested in the methodology, the data, whatever. Lots more happening around games and sustainability though, so let's get stuck

Announcing AfterClimate’s first annual game industry net zero snapshot

It’s here. The first (to my knowledge) attempt to collate all of the net zero pledges, sustainability announcements, ESG metrics and other disclosures from the biggest game companies in the world. There’s also a detailed spreadsheet to pore over with all the comparative net zero dates, key announced

A couple of talks about games, tech and their impacts

Its been an incredibly busy couple of weeks, and I came down with something nasty at the end of the last one – on the day I usually write my newsletter – so that's why its been a bit of a gap. But in the background I've also been working on something

GTG Links No.11 – Nov 5th

It's been a super busy couple of weeks here at GTG so please excuse the lack of much editorial commentary this week, its mostly just the links! I will tease that I have some very big, very cool news to announce shortly. My only hint is the following cryptic tweet.

Exploring ESG art: What can we learn from corporate photos?

ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) disclosure standards require the production of an almost endless stream of corporate communications, principally in the form of written reports. These are mostly read only by investors, wonks, or other weirdos like myself, but they are also expressions made for the corporate community, reflecting its