Gaming for good is the idea that games can carry awareness, player participation and money toward social causes, with climate action as the main example. The case rests on reach: games already hold audiences that a cause would struggle to reach otherwise. The strongest version of that argument comes from GamesBeat’s interview with Jude Ower, CEO of Playmob, and Mathias Gredal Nørvig, CEO of Sybo, who co-wrote the book Gaming for Good. The interview was first published on February 12, 2024 and updated on June 18, 2025. Everything below is the interviewees’ own account, and it is not independent proof that any particular campaign changed the world.
What the book sets out to do
Ower described the book as having three parts, each aimed at a different reader need:
- Demystifying gaming. An introduction to gamers and contemporary gaming culture, for readers who do not play or do not follow the industry.
- Showing how games can be used for good. Examples of games being used for causes, which is the core of the argument.
- Putting ideas into action. Templates and worked examples for readers who want to run something themselves.
The book is written for people inside the games industry and for people outside it. Ower’s summary of its purpose is the clearest statement of the thesis:
“Overarching, it’s around raising awareness of how games can be good, and showing ways we can implement gaming for good, whether you’re in the industry or not.”
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— Jude Ower, CEO of Playmob, GamesBeat interview, February 12, 2024
Four ways games are used for good
The interview describes several mechanisms that campaigns use. They are not mutually exclusive, and a single campaign often combines more than one. The table sets out how each works and what a reader should ask before judging one.
| Mechanism | How it works | What to check before backing it |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness and storytelling | A campaign uses a game, or the game’s audience, to raise awareness of a cause or to show that games can carry serious messages. | Who the audience is, and whether the interview gives any measure of what they did afterward (not stated in the interview). |
| In-game activation | Players are invited to take an action inside a game. The interview describes the general principle of inviting players to act, but does not detail the mechanics of the activations it mentions. | What the player actually does, and whether that action is tracked or reported. |
| Charitable purchase or donation | Money from an in-game purchase or item sale is directed to a cause. | What share goes to the cause, which project receives it, and over what period. The interview does not give general percentages for these arrangements. |
| Collaborative industry initiative | Studios, platforms, agencies and UN-related bodies coordinate activity across companies rather than in a single campaign. | Who coordinates, and what each participant commits to. The interview describes this model but does not set out a common framework. |
The interview also treats these as points on a comparison: awareness and storytelling against direct fundraising, an in-game purchase against a background allocation such as ad revenue, a single studio campaign against cross-industry coordination, and intended social benefit against the campaign’s own energy and consumption footprint. The interview does not provide a ranking of these models.
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The climate case: two approaches
The interviewees frame climate action as the most developed use case. They distinguish two broad approaches attributed to UN-related work, and they are worth separating because they carry different evidence and different risks.
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This approach treats the games industry as a source of emissions and as a funder. Studios and platforms can address their own energy use and direct money to green projects, including through the donation models described above.
Using games to communicate with audiences about climate change
This approach treats games as a channel. The interview points to young people as a key audience and describes games as a way to reach them about climate change. The claim here is about reach and communication, not measurable behavior change.
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The interviewees see platforms and studios as able to give cause-related activations greater visibility. These are descriptions of strategy, not quantified results.
The examples and their chronology
The interview places the examples in a rough timeline. The dates and sequence are the interviewees’ recollections and have not been separately corroborated here.
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- Convening companies. Nørvig describes Play Nice dinners and UNEP’s role in bringing companies together around the industry’s climate responsibilities. This is an example of collaborative initiative.
- Games as a climate channel. Nørvig says UNDP later used games as a communication channel on climate change. This is an example of awareness and storytelling.
- Play for the Planet Alliance. The interview discusses activity by this alliance. The specific mechanics are not stated in the interview.
- Subway Surfers and J. Balvin. A Subway Surfers collaboration with the artist J. Balvin, in which a share of in-game purchases reportedly went to green projects. The interview does not give the share or the total amount raised.
The figures, and how much weight each can bear
80% of gamers wanted to do more for climate action
Ower attributes this figure to a Green Game Jam held the year before the interview. The interview does not name the organization that published the underlying findings, nor give the sample, method or question wording. It should be read as Ower’s account of that jam, not as an estimate for gamers in general.
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50% of book profits donated to green projects
GamesBeat reported in 2024 that the authors were donating 50% of book profits to green projects through PlanetPlay, as a way of offsetting the book’s carbon footprint. That reporting describes the arrangement at publication. It does not establish whether the donation is still active, how it is administered, or whether a current signup route exists.
Sybo’s scale
The interview repeats two company-scale figures: more than 150 million monthly active users for Sybo’s games, and four billion downloads for Subway Surfers. These are the company’s figures as stated in the 2024 interview. They have not been independently verified, and they describe the time of that interview rather than today.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Tensions the interviewees acknowledge
The interview does not present gaming for good as a clean solution. It names the problems that a serious campaign has to address:
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- Energy use. Games run on hardware and servers that consume power, which is part of the industry’s own footprint.
- Consumption. Campaigns that sell items or encourage spending may increase the consumption they are meant to reduce.
- Child safety and age ratings. Campaigns aimed at young players raise questions about what children are exposed to and how content is rated.
A cause-related campaign can raise money or awareness while its own operations still carry a footprint. Gaming for good does not offset the environmental cost of gaming itself, and a donation does not settle that question.
Questions to ask before backing a gaming-for-good campaign
- What does the player do, and is that action recorded or reported?
- What share of money goes to the cause, to which project, and for how long?
- Who coordinates the campaign, and do other companies or agencies make comparable commitments?
- What environmental footprint does the campaign itself create?
- Is there a published result, and does it name its method?
Getting the book and following up
The interview is a good starting point for the book’s case studies and implementation guidance. The reporting does not establish current availability, edition details or purchase options for Gaming for Good, so check the publisher or a retailer listing directly. Likewise, the 2024 reporting does not confirm a current PlanetPlay donation campaign, signup route or partnership. Anyone who wants to follow the donation arrangement should confirm its status with the organizations involved before assuming it is open.
Ower’s own summary of the aim is a useful test for any campaign you encounter: is it raising awareness, showing a way to act, and making clear what happens next?
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