https://www.gamesindustry.biz/manufacture-and-shipping-of-physical-games-is-100-times-more-carbon-intensive-than-digital-new-study-finds

It takes 312 grams of carbon to make a physical disc, according to this article and math. Your typical SUV makes 4.6 (4.6 million grams) metric tons of carbon every single year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. So according to math it takes 14,743 discs to equal driving an SUV for one year. In other words buying physical game discs contributes absolutely nothing to global warming compared to driving an SUV everyday. 

The above article is a prime example of trying to blame consumers for pollution when in truth it is done by billion dollar corporations. Read this article about how carbon footprints were invented by BP to shift blame onto consumers. https://countercurrents.org/2021/06/the-fallacy-of-our-carbon-footprint/

Oh! And best of all, it has the added benefit of acting as pro-digital-only propaganda. A single PS5 disc and case takes up 0.0122 cubic feet of space. I own thousands of physical games and would STILL need to fill

EVERY

SINGLE

SQUARE FOOT

of my apartment with PS5 game discs to pollute 87% as much pollution as a single SUV does in a year. 

The issue is not carbon footprint, but the waste in the whole supply chain

Ideally, everything that could be digital should be digital to avoid use of unnecessary resources. But for that we need to first have laws that protect digital onwership, which now we don't have

Someone did that math in a thread years ago. It was something like every single PS4 game taking up one football field stacked to the ceiling. I forget. I'm tired now and dont' feel like doing more math. Anyway, it was also a drop in the ocean compared to everything else people pollute with. 

Couldn't care less about carbon footprint, I want physical games or I'm not buying games at all.

Carbon footprint of streaming is 55 grams per hour, playing that game for 6 hours is a lower carbon footprint than watching / playing streamed content.

Lol the article admits it as well
"As a whole, physical video games may still be less carbon intensive than their digital counterparts – but their ultimate impact should not be underestimated."



Yep, it's just deflection, whataboutism while AI and crypto carbon footprints are magnitudes worse, mostly from electricity use.

If you want to be a 'green' gamer, buy a Switch, don't stream, don't play online, unplug when not in use. And still it won't make any difference compared to a daily commute to an air conditioned office.



And if you're concerned about discs ending up in landfills:

Since it was just last week

Halloween contributes to a significant carbon footprint due to disposable costumes and decorations, excessive candy wrappers, and decaying pumpkins in landfills. The production and disposal of single-use items create waste and emissions, while decomposing pumpkins release methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.

https://www.dal.ca/news/2024/10/31/halloween-environment-tips-expert.html

But there’s a growing awareness around the holiday’s environmental impact. From the mountains of pumpkin waste (about 1 billion pounds ending up in landfills each year in the U.S.) to the millions of kilograms of textile waste generated by costumes, Halloween’s fun comes at a significant cost to the planet.

These are all great points. I would say that Halloween shouldn't be done away with, but just toned down a bit. 

Beaten to it, but yeah on a scale of "how much does this fuck the planet" physical copies of games barely registers at all compared to say AI, data centers, transportation, etc.

Giving up physical games to save the Earth would be like giving up sandwiches to lose weight while still drinking soft drinks and eating McDonalds every day.

You're broke and poor because of Avacado Toast and Coffee and it's ruining the environment too! If only you were to forego that avocado toast and coffee you would be able to save *checks notes* $88 a month, and you would be able to then afford a down payment on a house in 300 years, with the money you saved! 

EDIT: Oops, wrong thread.

If these companies cared for the environment in this fashion, they wouldn't release retail boxes with a digital code on them, or Game-Key cards.