There are many different ways game developers can act in service of our environment and society. Get all of your ideas onto a board, document, or spreadsheet and find the ones you are most passionate about.

• DO: Gain some inspiration from the developer resources this community is creating and other initiatives our awesome partners are working on (for instance, the UN Playing for the Planet Alliance’s annual report showcases the many ways in which developers and publishers are taking action. Arnaud Fayolle’s GGJ 2021 talk is also a great starting point to identify ways climate action can be incorporated into the game development process!).
  

• DO: Leverage the power of the SIG community on Discord. Throw ideas into #In-Development if you want or need help getting ideas generated and/or refined. If you have an initiative already planned and have a specific call-to-action you want broadcasted widely, post it in the #Signal-Boost channel!

Big audacious goals like “solving climate change” and “getting to net zero” can be overwhelming (and result in scope creep!). Don’t be afraid to vet your ideas by breaking them down into smaller goals and tasks. This can also help you hone in on what is most realistic, given what you have time and energy to do. There is zero shame in starting small and working your way up.

With each project idea, brainstorm the potential outcomes that can have a positive impact on you, your team, your company, and/or the industry as a whole.

• DO: Ideally, do this with another person or small group! This can help the creative juices flow, as well as keep things realistic and concrete.
  

• DO: Use short cause-effect statements (ex. “This project will help us identify X opportunities to be more energy efficient, which will enable our team to do Y.”, “This project will drive players to X, which will enable Y.”). This can help the brainstorming process be more concrete and focused, while enabling you to document what questions need to be answered.
  

• NOTE: This will probably feel uncomfortable because it may uncover more questions than answers, and that is OK! At this stage, there is no right or wrong answer. Your thoughts, hopes, and fears are valid. The more concrete they become, the clearer the path will be to addressing them.

Remember that change rarely happens overnight. To avoid getting overwhelmed or burnt out as you’re tackling this work, try breaking down your metrics based on what your intended audience needs to get there (aka a “theory of action”).

• FOR GAME IMPACT, DO: Break down what you want players to take away from the experience. Is the game focused on raising:

  • Awareness (“I know more about X”),

  • Attitudinal Shift (“I now know Y is relevant to my way of life”), and/or

  • Individual or Collective Action (“I will call my local policymaker for Z”)?
    

• FOR GAME IMPACT, DO: Consider finding ways to do pre- and post-surveys on your players to identify where they were at before playing, and whether the game has influenced any changes. For instance, say you have a meaningful choice-based game where players negotiate climate policies. You can ask players to share their pre-existing assumptions about how a certain type of policy is made, and compare it to how they articulate the process after they play the game.
  

• FOR GAME IMPACT, AVOID: Leaning too heavily on high level metrics, like # views or # impressions, to determine success. These metrics are a great starting point and can be used to define audience reach. However, be mindful that these do not automatically translate to behavior change. You can avoid the risk of greenwashing by being specific about the impact you want to create, and doing small-scale tests with players to see if you can get some positive signals that your design intent is recognized and understood.
  

• FOR CARBON FOOTPRINT REDUCTION, DO: Check out resources like the UKIE Green Game Guide or Space Ape’s blog, which break down ways to define and calculate progress.

Start with identifying how decision makers on your team or company make choices, most often be based on the goals they already have. If a decision maker is focused on “growth” and “revenue”, find ways to break down how they define the opportunities and threats impacting their ability to achieve those goals.

• DO: Find opportunities to document what assumptions are being made. For instance, when someone says “I want our company to become a leader in X”, find out the timeframe they’re thinking of, and what they assume the market conditions will be at major milestones. This may help you discover opportunities to articulate:
  

  • how current and projected climate impacts may impact the company’s ability to achieve that goal, and

  • what can be done today to begin mitigating those risks.
    

• DON’T: When faced with having to take on the emotional labor of grassroots advocacy, it can be very easy to get into an “us versus them” mentality. Try to remember that, at the end of the day, we’re all humans doing the best we can with what we know - and we all have blind spots to grow out of.

Remember: a climate conscious business is a resilient business. Map out how your proposal for climate action will enable them to capitalize on good ideas that benefit the business, or reduce risks. Feel free to use the Business, Policy, and/or Social-Environmental Justice case points in the previous section as a baseline to craft a narrative that makes aligns with your company goals.

• DO: Base your proposal on your leadership’s communication style. People are more likely to respond to proposed solutions that are positioned as Opportunities, moreso than Threats - but it depends on the individual. Some may be focused on novelty and unique market positioning; others may be focused on risk mitigation and avoiding scarcity.
  

• DO: Be clear about how solution(s) you propose are positioned as a way to help achieve goals important to the business - not distract from them.
  

• DON’T: Use Threat-based language without concrete asks that leadership can respond to in order to mitigate the risks established (ex. “It sounds like we will lose X, but I don’t know what you or the team needs to make sure this doesn’t happen”.) This runs the risk of creating feelings of frustration and shame - which can shut down conversation, rather than opening people up to the possibilities.

It’s always important to acknowledge that this is hard work, and it can be easy to get overwhelmed and tired when success isn’t immediately visible.

• DO: Set a shared practice with your project partners so that you can protect each other’s self-care. In the event you see a team member experiencing fatigue, help them take time to breathe - and invite them to do the same for you. We can all take turns :)
  

• DO: Recognize that it is not your responsibility to take on all of the emotional labor. Your management and leadership are just as responsible for your mental health and wellbeing.
  

• DON’T: Get stuck in the idea that you need to sacrifice yourself for the “greater good”. Self-care in itself is an act of protest - and you deserve to have your time, energy, and expertise respected too.

The IGDA Climate SIG is one of multiple growing communities that are here to support you - be it to problem solve challenges, or just scream into the void.

• DO: Remember we're all human, and that imposter syndrome will weave false narratives in our heads. This can make us sometimes feel like we can't say something, or interject, because we feel small or “not enough of an expert”. Try to keep in mind that you are allowed to feel whatever you want to feel, but that does not mean we as your community have to think any of the false narratives are true! By being here, you are already an agent of change - and you can give yourself permission to believe it! But - if you're get stuck, and that voice inside your head is being stubborn, leverage us for a sanity check anytime.
  

• DO NOT: forget that you have people all over the world who want to help you and your team thrive, and you do not have to do this alone. We’re here to hype each other up!