Today, Sony announced it is joining forces with the United Nations to do its part to fight climate change, specifically when it comes to its upcoming PlayStation 5 console.
In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Sony Interactive Entertainment supremo Jim Ryan revealed the company is joining the UN Environment Committee’s Playing For The Planet initiative to find ways for the gaming industry to reduce its environmental footprint. The project also looks to use the medium of video games to promote environmentally friendly habits among gamers.
Among the usual platitudes and commitments to reduce its environmental footprint, Sony teased one of the first genuine details about its upcoming next-generation console, widely expected as the PlayStation 5, and its desire to market it as an eco-console.
The PlayStation 5 will boast a new standby feature with a significantly lower power consumption rate than the existing PlayStation 4. Sony says it hopes to lower it down to 0.5 watts, saving enough electricity to power 1,000 US homes if one million players use the option.
Sony also used the post to brag about its efforts to date, claiming that it has side-stepped carbon emissions of 16 million metric tons thanks to the efficient technologies built into the PlayStation 4. The gaming behemoth hopes to extend that number to 29 million metric tons within ten years. For context, Sony says that amount is equivalent to Denmark’s entire CO2 emissions for 2017.
Alongside hardware-based moves to cut electricity consumption, Sony is also investigating actionable steps at the operational level, notably at its data centers and through its gaming services to further up energy efficiency. The Japanese company also plans to extend a helping hand to developers eager to introduce environmental and sustainability themes into their games.
By peddling the PlayStation 5 as an eco-console, Sony adds yet another feather to its cap to lure players as the next console wars start in earnest next year – not that it needs it after the overwhelming dominance of the PlayStation 4 throughout this current generation and an enviable catalog of exclusives.