A progress report on Xbox’s carbon reduction goals.
Already in 2022 and then in 2023, Microsoft announced a sustainability update for Earth Day and presented, for example, CO2-conscious game downloads and updates.
Now, a year later, the company is presenting another update to underpin its efforts.
announced: “At Microsoft, we have set ambitious goals to significantly reduce our environmental impact and become a carbon negative, water positive and zero waste company by 2030.”
“Xbox plays an important role in achieving this goal, and we are proud to announce today that in just three years (FY20-FY23), Xbox has contributed to this goal with actions to reduce energy consumption during console use.”
“These measures, which include greening the game code and allowing players to opt into power saving mode, have avoided over 1.2 million tonnes of CO2e compared to usage without these measures.”
“The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that this will avoid emissions equivalent to more than 3 billion car kilometers (the average gasoline-powered car travels).”
Microsoft was only able to take these measures by working with game developers who Xbox Sustainability Toolkit and by the players’ decision to use the energy saving option “Switch off” as well as through active hours and carbon-conscious updates on Xbox consoles.
“These actions highlight some of the improvements we have made to reduce our carbon footprint, and we are constantly looking for new ways to innovate, learn and improve our sustainability efforts at Xbox.”
About Xbox Sustainability Toolkit: These tools, which include power consumption dashboards, case studies, and telemetry data, have enabled developers to gain insight into their games’ energy consumption and identify ways to reduce energy consumption that are imperceptible to players. These techniques can also be used to extend battery life in battery-powered gaming devices.
“In just three years (FY20-FY23), the Xbox Sustainability Toolkit has been implemented by studios such as 343 Industries for Halo Infinite, Activision for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Call of Duty: Warzone, and others.”
“The collective efforts and support of our developers have made these latest emissions reduction efforts possible. We look forward to seeing the positive impact of the Xbox Sustainability Toolkit continue to grow as new tools are introduced, such as the Dynamic Power States API, the latest platform technology available since June that enables developers to achieve greater power savings without compromising graphical fidelity.”
“We are constantly looking for ways to enable developers to use tools and resources that help reduce energy and emissions when developing games.”
Which power saving mode do you use on the Xbox One or Xbox Series X/S?
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