Ubisoft has announced plans to use in-game events in games like Riders Republic and Skull and Bones to raise awareness about the impact of climate change on our planet.
The plans were developed as part of Ubisoft’s participation in Play for the Planet Alliance’s annual Green Game Jam, which encourages studios to find ways to incorporate environmental themes into their games.
In Rider’s Republic, for example, Ubisoft intends to (Opens in a new tab) Use a “short and intense live event” to promote strategies that will reduce the size and frequency of wildfires, as well as their emotional impact by highlighting their consequences. Ubisoft said you won’t be warned in advance of the event. Instead, you’ll one day run the Riders Republic and “instantly immerse yourself in the consequences of wildfires on the outskirts of the map.”
Consequences will include an orange sky and ‘fire smog’ throughout the game, a virtual gas mask being outfitted and part of the map completely inaccessible as a result of the air being ‘unbreathable’.
It will be up to you and the other players to work together to stop the burning of Sequoias. This will involve identifying the “most vulnerable and flammable areas of Sequoia National Park” using photo mode and then engaging in collaborative activities that will reduce the risk of fire spread, for example, clearing forest paths or protecting trees by placing aluminum foil on their trunks.
On the other hand, Skull and Bones – which does not have a release date yet but is expected later this year – will focus on (Opens in a new tab) Consequences of resource exploitation by “showing what happens in the game world and the real world when the demand for shark fins leads to shark overfishing”.
As Ubisoft explains it, it will be “a seasonal live in-game event” designed to encourage cooperation and you will have “the option of contributing to the protection of marine wildlife and an understanding of the devastating nature of the shark fin trade”. Ubisofts says that contributing to community challenges will unlock rewards for everyone “depending on the overall level of participation.”
There is more to see
The Green Game Jam has been running since 2020 and seems to be growing every year. Starting with mobile games in its first year, it opened to all platforms in 2021 and this year is touted as the “biggest release” to date, with over 50 studios participating.
Scrolling through this year’s list of participants shows that other Ubisoft studios and games are participating, but not necessarily with such extensive in-game events.
For Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, for example, Ubisoft Montreal Apparently will add (Opens in a new tab) “An exclusive charitable package featuring one-of-a-kind skins,” with all profits “donated to charities focused on nature conservation.”
Ubisoft San Francisco, meanwhile, He said he intends (Opens in a new tab) “Teach guitar learners and instrumentalists more about their instruments and everything that goes into making them” at Rocksmith using a combination of “eco-themed in-app rewards” and “a planet-focused, interactive curriculum through playlists of themed songs and educational Rocksmith Discover videos and articles.”
Even outside of Ubisoft, Guerilla Games and Sony are partnering through Horizon Forbidden West with Previously announced (Opens in a new tab) Aloe Forest Project. Meanwhile, Media Molecule dreams, created (Opens in a new tab) The Community Facing Game Jam focused on sustainable agriculture themes, including sustainable food and agricultural practices in April of this year.
Ubisoft is a prominent presence in Participants list (Opens in a new tab) For the Green Game Jam competition this year and that was also in 2021. The publisher was also candid about it Green Play Initiative (Opens in a new tab) Announced in 2021.
However, it has also attracted criticism for its push into NFTs despite the backlash from players and widespread concerns about its extremely negative environmental impact.
Ubisoft has claimed (Opens in a new tab) that its Quartz platform is “the first playable and energy-efficient NFTs platform in AAA games” but in an interview with IGN (Opens in a new tab) Around the time of the platform launch, Nicholas Poire, Vice President of the Strategic Innovation Lab at Ubisoft, said, “If we see [blockchain technology] I can not go [more energy efficient]If, of course, it is not sustainable, we will think again about what we are doing.”
