Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new article, “Geeks versus climate change: Understanding video game players’ engagement with global warming” in the journal Climatic Change.

As the impacts of climate change increase, communicators must engage as many audiences as possible in climate action. One valuable, yet under-reached audience is video game players. Nearly two-thirds of Americans play video games, and many video game developers are already working on ways to incorporate climate content into games. However, little research has examined whether video game players have unique value as an audience for climate communication. Moreover, video games have grown in popularity as a climate communication tool, and better understanding of video game players can support more effective engagement. To address these needs, we conducted two surveys in the United States to measure video game players’ current engagement with climate change.

In Study 1, a nationally representative survey in the United States (n = 1,006), we found that video game players were slightly more likely than non-players to intend to take collective actions on global warming, namely consumer activism behaviors and political behaviors.

In Study 2 (n = 2,034), we found that video game players in the U.S. with more friends and relatives who also played video games, and/or who were exposed to global warming content in gaming, were slightly more likely to discuss global warming with friends and family. They were also more likely to engage in consumer activism on global warming. Additionally, players who are more motivated to play video games are slightly more likely to say they will engage in political behaviors. These findings were consistent even after controlling for potential confounding variables such as age, political party, and global warming attitudes.

Results suggest that video game players are a valuable audience for climate change communication, combatting the stereotype of gamers as disengaged or antisocial, at least in the context of climate change. Instead, we find that many people who play video games are concerned about – and willing to take action on – climate change, and conversely, many people who are willing to act on climate change play video games.

Our study also identifies several potential avenues for communication with players, particularly outreach to and engagement with gaming communities through their social communities, such as online spaces, gaming events, and online influencers.

The full article with many other results is free to read here, and a downloadable version is available here for those with a subscription to Climatic Change.

The research team is grateful to Paula Escuadra with the International Game Developers Association Climate Special Interest Group; Grant Shonkweiler with the Adrienne Arsht – Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center at the Atlantic Council; Jerome Hagen with Microsoft; and Sebastien Dore with Ubisoft for providing their industry knowledge and perspective during question development. These findings expand on data from our previously released report, “What Do Video Gamers Think About Climate Change?,” conducted in partnership with Unity Technologies.