The Playing for the Planet Alliance, an initiative facilitated by the United Nations, announced the return of its annual Green Game Jam.
It unveiled the names of the 57 studios joining, which include TiMi Studio Group, Rovio, Supercell and Ubisoft. The studios are from 27 countries, and they will work to integrate the theme of nature into their titles, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
This is the highest number of games in the jam since it started in 2019. This year, studios will work to both fundraise for conservation causes as well as a new campaign approach which will engage players to share why nature matters to them in an effort to show support for its protection. These messages would then be shared with policy makers, calling to protect 30% of the planet by 2030 and addressing the fact that one million of the planet’s estimated eight million species face extinction.
Millions of dollars have been raised through the Green Game Jam, and millions of trees have been planted, said Sam Barratt, chief of youth, education and advocacy at UNEP, in an interview with GamesBeat.
“It’s had a discernible impact on hundreds of millions of players engaged, and each year there’s a fiscal and ecological metric, which is also important,” he said. “There’s also a cultural metric that is much harder to measure. It’s just getting people in the industry to think about what is the opportunity, the potential for impact of play. And that’s why I think the games industry is magic, because it can do things that no other entertainment medium can, and that’s what the Green Game Jam scratches.”
“Honor of Kings is proud to pioneer gaming’s environmental frontier through joining Green Game Jam. We believe games can drive real-world impact, and this is a great opportunity to integrate ecological conservation into gameplay,” said Dean Huang, Honor of Kings chief game designer, whose team at TiMi Studio Group joins the Green Game Jam for the first time this year, in a statement. “We hope every player will feel a deeper connection to our planet, take small but meaningful steps and embark on the journey from virtual guardians to real-world environmental advocates.“
This year will be the sixth edition of the Green Game Jam which since it started has reached an annual average of 100 million daily active users, led to 1.5 million trees planted and $1.5 million raised. It will also build on research undertaken as a collaboration between Dire Lark and the University of Edinburgh who worked with SYBO, Trailmix Games, and Wooga, to conduct a report that would explore effective design for green activations to empower players to take action for the environment.
The full report will be released later in April and will summarize how 58,000 players reacted to engaging in environmental content in the games they regularly play and love.
Barratt said, “The awe of nature often sits quietly in the backdrop of many great games. This year, we want to change that and bring to the front of the stage and provide players with an opportunity to act. We are delighted to see so many returning titles and new ones joining too. We need nature, and nature needs us to protect and restore all that we can.”
The 59 studios in the jam have already started participating in workshops and conversations with experts ahead of the go-live launch date of June 5, World Environment Day. A full list of titles can be found here and includes 24 returnees from previous jams and 27 first-time participants such as Just Dance 2025 and Habbo Hotel. In addition to the campaign goal, the 2025 Green Game Jam will also give their player communities the chance to fund a nature-related cause or for studios to team up with On the Edge, Dots.eco and/or Planet Play.
“Rovio is proud to collaborate with the Playing for the Planet Alliance and participate in initiatives like the Green Game Jam for the sixth consecutive year, reinforcing our commitment to environmental sustainability,” says Heini Kaihu, chief sustainability officer for Rovio, a founding member of the Playing for the Planet Alliance and regular contributor to the Green Game Jam, in a statement. “With awareness creation being a key goal in our climate strategy, we believe in empowering our players to take action for the planet by integrating green activations into our games. The gaming industry has a powerful platform to inspire positive change, and with the alliance we are better equipped to make that change happen through collaborating with industry leaders.”
The Green Game Jam is one of Playing for the Planet’s annual projects. It’s a challenge for studios with live games and existing audiences to build ‘green activations’ that engage their players on particular environmental topics. Green activations are new features implemented either in the game or through the ‘metagame’ space, such as social channels or in-person events. They can include new modes, maps, themed events, storylines and other creative ways to make players aware of environmental topics.
The goal of the Green Game Jam is to harness the reach and cultural power of video games to engage people all over the world on these issues. Focusing our efforts each year on a dedicated environmental theme, we show our ever-growing participant list that the mission of education, awareness and mobilization for the environment can go hand in hand with making great games.
Big ambitions
“We are really pleased with the quality and the quantity of entrants for this edition,” said Barratt. “Each year we do a different theme, just to keep everyone on their toes, and this year the theme is nature. I think it’s going to be really compelling.”
He added, “It’s all about what you can do for nature. And I think the games have always used the beauty of biodiversity in the backdrop of games, but nature is one of those things that is taken for granted until it’s gone. The aspiration this year is to get people to really think about the role they can play, keeping nature alive and helping this planet.”
As for this year’s participants, Barratt said there is a real mixture of titles and they have some pretty nice ideas.
“Honor of Kings is the one to watch. They’ve got creative ideas that should go live in the coming days, but there’s a lot of good, fun titles like Crossy Roads,” Barratt said.
He said that each year the entrants have been growing, and that has been helpful in keeping everyone better informed about the environment.
“People don’t need to be told there’s a problem. They need to know what to do about it,” Barratt said. “This year’s is to be much more propositional about the actions that players will take. What will make a meaningful difference?” he said. “This year, we’re doing two things. One is to build a community of engaged players, which we have not done before. We’re going to give people more chances to give with different fundraising options as well.”
I asked whether the Trump administration has affected the game jam and the environmental movement in some way.
“I’d say the context may have changed, but science hasn’t, and the need hasn’t either,” Barratt said. “When it comes to nature, I don’t think we noticed any drop off of interest, which is positive. And if anything, I think nature attracts everyone from everywhere, which is really positive.”
Many of the activations will be going live in the coming days for Environment Day on April 1 and beyond.
As for the time devoted to these, some studios have gone all in, hired scientists to help them and done a lot of research in advance, Barratt said.
“People have thrown a significant amount of human resources at it, but at the other end, people haven’t had the time or the capacity to do more ambitious activations that we’ve seen from others,” he said.
He said most studios build up their capability for the Green Game Jam over multiple years and get more ambitious.
The entrants:
Full list of game teams in the jam:Angry Birds Dream Blast by RovioAngry Birds Friends by RovioArt of Puzzles by ZiMADBeatstar by NextBeatBest Fiends by PlaytikaChow Town by Sea MonsterCOP30 An Amazon Adventure by Hermit Crab StudioCrossy Road by Hipster WhaleDrive Ahead! by Dodreams OyElowyn: Quest of Time by EARTHwiseEnsemble Stars Music by HappyElementsFarmVille 3 by ZyngaFishing Clash by Ten Square Games S.A.GamePoint Bingo by GamePoint B.V.Garden Joy by Scopely; Burlingame StudiosHabbo by Sulake / AzerionHay Day by SupercellHonor of Kings by TiMi Studio GroupHotel Hideaway by Sulake / AzerionHungry Shark Evolution by Ubisoft BarcelonaHungry Shark World by Ubisoft BarcelonaI Bee Xploring by Birungi StudioIdle Miner Tycoon by Ubisoft / Kolibri GamesIdle Zombie Miner: Gold Tycoon by Royal Ark (part of GDEV)Imagine Earth by Serious Bros.June’s Journey by WoogaJust Dance 2025 by Ubisoft ParisKlondike Adventures by Vizor GamesLittle Singham by Reliance GamesLongleaf Valley by TreesPlease GamesLove & Pies by TrailmixMagic: Puzzle Quest by Webcore GamesMatchington Mansion by Magic TavernMinion Rush by GameloftModern Community by Magic TavernMonument Valley 3 by ustwo gamesMOONWAKERS by GAMAN GAMESMy Talking Hank: Island by Outfit7Orna: The Fantasy RPG and GPS Game by Northern Forge StudiosOut and About by Yaldi GamesPrince of Persia: The Lost Crown by UbisoftPuzzle Adventure by PIXEL FEDERATIONE-Line MediaRiders Republic by Ubisoft AnnecyRommé Treff by GameDuellShop Titans by KabamSkat Treff by GameDuellSky Farm Island by MeshMindsSmart Truco by Webcore GamesSnake Run: Epic Race 3D by Artrei StudioSubway Surfers by SYBOSweave by Leti ArtsT20 Cricket Champions 3D by Reliance GamesThe Rogue Prince of Persia by Ubisoft / Evil EmpireTop Eleven Be a Football Manager by NordeusWordopia: Candy Word Search by Artrei StudioWorld of Us by Tales of Us
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