What Playstation 5 is Doing to Combat Climate Change

Both the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One have come to the end of their respective life cycles. As a result, both Sony and Microsoft have been preparing their successors, spurred on by each other as well as the other competitors that can be found out there. For Sony, this successor will be the PlayStation 5. Currently there hasn’t been much information released about the PlayStation 5. However, that hasn’t stopped interested parties from speculating on the matter. One excellent example would be the speculation of the console’s release in 2020, which was based on the fact that Sony was a no-show at E3 2019. Meanwhile, another excellent example would be the speculation that there could be a high-powered PlayStation 5 Pro released in a simultaneous manner with its standard counterpart, which is based on the fact that Sony has stated an interest in replicating the success of the PlayStation 4 Pro, meaning that it might want to offer interested individuals the choice between the two versions sooner rather than later. Besides the speculation, it should be mentioned that Sony has been providing consumers with small tidbits of information here and there as well to whet their appetites, as shown by the recent reveal that the PlayStation 5 will consume less power while suspended for the purpose of combating climate change.

Sony Has Announced that the PlayStation 5 Will Consume Less Power While Suspended

For those who are curious, the Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan stated that the PlayStation 5 will come with the option to suspend play for the purpose of minimizing power consumption. The current estimate seems to be around 0.5 W. However, it is important to note that this says nothing about the power consumption of the console while in the course of normal play. Regardless, Sony’s choice in this regard makes perfect sense because it is one of the video game companies that have signed on to the Playing for the Planet Alliance, which is a partnership that sees participants pledging to reduce their impact on the planet by reducing their carbon emissions, reducing their waste output, and other measures. In fact, Microsoft has signed on as well, which isn’t even counting video game and video game-related companies that range from Ubisoft to Twitch.

Why Do Businesses Care About Climate Change Anyways?

By this point, some people might be curious why video game companies would take an interest in combating climate change. However, there are a wide range of potential reasons:

It Makes Their Products More Marketable

There are still a lot of people out there who believe that climate change is either not real or not caused by humans. However, climate change is the consensus of climate scientists. Furthermore, the concept of climate change has seen sufficient spread that most people now believe in it as well. Unsurprisingly, when even the most optimistic predictions for climate change features enormous suffering for millions and millions of people, people can become concerned enough to make changes in their consumption patterns for the purpose of minimizing the consequences of climate change. Sure, the choices of a single individual matter very little in the grand scheme of things. However, it is the sum of those choices by which the world is shaped, meaning that they nonetheless matter. Regardless, the important point is that more eco-friendly products make for more marketable products for a lot of people out there, meaning that businesses have enormous financial incentive to pursue eco-friendliness to some extent.

Pragmatic Side Benefits

Speaking of which, a lot of the measures meant to combat climate change have what one might call very pragmatic side benefits. For instance, consider the example of the power consumption reduction for the PlayStation 5. Power consumption reduction is very eco-friendly. However, power consumption reduction is also very budget-friendly. Yes, it won’t make much of a difference in a single period, but even small savings can make for significant sums when repeated in period after period after period.

Similarly, other measures meant to combat climate change have such benefits as well. One excellent example would be how reducing the amount of pollutants released into the air reduces the amount of pollutants breathed in by people on a daily basis. Something that should matter a great deal to anyone who has ever had the dubious pleasure of experiencing smog. Another excellent example would be how installing better insulation in buildings makes it much easier to maintain a constant temperature, which in turn, makes it much easier to maintain a comfortable temperature for the occupants. As a result, even if someone doesn’t care about climate change, there are still very good reasons for them to care about the measures used to combat climate change.

Reputation

On a more nebulous note, a business’s choices have an enormous impact on how that business is perceived by its potential customers as well as other stakeholders. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this has an enormous impact on how those stakeholders interact with businesses. The most obvious example would be how consumers are more willing to make purchases from businesses that they see in a positive light. However, other examples range from suppliers being more eager to sell goods to businesses with good reputations to communities being more eager to host businesses with good reputations. Naturally, since a lot of people care about climate change to various extents, this means that a business’s stance on climate change as well as climate change-related matters plays a very important role in shaping its public perception.

Long-Term Prospects

Finally, while some businesses have become pretty notorious for prioritizing their short-term profits at the expense of all other considerations, it isn’t uncommon for businesses to have an interest in how things will turn out in the long run for the sake of their long-term prospects. Naturally, this means that multi-national corporations such as Sony and Microsoft have enormous incentive to minimize the consequences of climate change because having more means having more to lose. Simply put, climate change is coming, meaning that denial is at best a counter-productive reaction to it.