Assessing the environmental impacts (using Life Cycle Assessment) of several alternative formats for SEGA's Football Manager (FM) games titles.
SEGA is aware that, even though they operate in a digital world, there is still a business requirement for a physical product and it is important for SEGA employees and customers to understand the environmental impacts of these products. SEGA, therefore, wanted to improve the packaging around its ‘Football Manager’ computer game.
SEGA commissioned Valpak’s consultancy team to assess the environmental impacts (using LCA) of several alternative formats for its Football Manager (FM) games titles. Beginning with Football Manager 2019, continuous improvements have been made to reduce the environmental impacts of SEGA’s FM product, the latest being the format for the launch of Football Manager 2023.
The system boundary for each of the LCAs was ‘cradle-to-gate’ + end of life (EoL). At each stage of the life cycle, the alternative formats were assessed separately using bespoke LCA modelling and then compared to highlight the differences in the carbon and water footprints as a result of switching to each of the alternatives.
The latest environmental impact assessment was completed ahead of FM23’s launch, for which SEGA changed the format of the product to a more environmentally sustainable option with a lower carbon footprint.
For the launch of FM23, the Notebook shipped with the product has been removed and the Digipak has been further light-weighted compared to the FM22 format.
The overall carbon footprint of FM23 is now just 66g CO2eq per FM, a reduction of ~190g CO2eq (or around 75%) compared to the carbon footprint of FM19. The reduction in the carbon footprint has been achieved by removing plastic components and packaging and using paper/card instead (while also minimising the amount of paper/card).
The project with SEGA has now progressed to a further phase which is considering what’s possible in terms of reduced environmental impacts for SEGA’s other gaming titles outside of the Football Manager series.
Valpak provided a high level LCA to compare the environmental impacts of the new and the old packaging for Football Manager 2020 on PC for SEGA. They were a very professional and personable company to deal with, on hand to support the brief and wider project. The report has since been shared with other various industry bodies and had really positive feedback.