AI-powered cloud gaming as a potentially sustainable technology of the future

Sustainability science examines how industrial production processes and the behaviour of businesses and consumers can be optimised from an environmental perspective. Whilst the focus is usually on traditional sectors such as the energy and automotive industries, the steadily growing gaming industry – as part of the entertainment sector – is also increasingly coming to the fore in the sustainability debate (Kessel, 2024). Two technologies will be particularly relevant in this regard in the coming years: Firstly, cloud computing or cloud gaming, in which the computing power required for computer and video games is shifted from local devices such as an Xbox console to computer centres; and secondly – in combination with this – generative AI, which, through its ability to generate new content, could revolutionise game development (Möhring, 2021; Mukherjee, 2024).
From a sustainability perspective, however, it should be noted that both technologies have so far been associated with enormous energy consumption (Bashir et al., 2024; Cloud Gaming, n.d.). In view of their expected economic growth, a comprehensive investigation of their sustainability potential is therefore of great relevance.

Research questions

Central research question:

1. Can environmentally sustainable cloud gaming models – with or without generative AI – be designed in such a way that they meet both the technical requirements of sustainable development and the expectations and preferences of users?

   Further sub-questions:

2. What are the CO₂ emissions and water consumption associated with running and using different cloud gaming variants, compared to locally downloaded game files on various end devices – with and without generative AI?
3. What are gamers’ expectations regarding the quality and availability of games on the one hand, and the consideration of sustainability on the other?
4. What overlaps or discrepancies arise between the findings on the sustainable development and implementation of new forms of gaming and the findings on users’ perceptions of these forms of gaming?

Methodology

To address the technical questions raised in this doctoral thesis, a life cycle assessment (LCA) is carried out to analyse the individual development and usage phases of cloud gaming and generative AI in terms of various environmental impacts (Ren & Toniolo, 2020). These include, amongst other things, energy consumption and CO₂ emissions.
At the social science level, surveys of customers and gamers will be designed to gather insights into their attitudes towards sustainability in general, and towards cloud gaming and generative AI in particular. The aim is, for example, to clarify to what extent it is a problem for players that, with cloud gaming, they no longer own the games but access them via a service – and to what extent this affects the potential of this technology.

Transfer & Objective

Combining a large-scale quantitative survey of gamers with an LCA of key digital gaming models enables a well-founded assessment of the conditions under which more sustainable forms of gaming are both technically feasible and socially acceptable. From the gaming industry’s perspective, linking technical LCA findings with user acceptance data can facilitate informed design decisions – such as assessing whether more CO₂-efficient cloud gaming models would be well received by the community, particularly when linked to new forms of digital ownership. The survey also sheds a nuanced light on the role of generative AI, for example with regard to its acceptance in creative processes versus potential concerns regarding energy consumption.

For policymakers, the combined results provide a basis for further developing existing regulatory approaches for the gaming sector in a more targeted manner – particularly within the framework of the EU Ecodesign Directive, which could potentially be extended to digital services, for example through environmental standards for digital applications. Furthermore, the work contributes to several of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – in particular SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), SDG 12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production), SDG 13 (Climate Action) and SDG 17 (Partnerships).

For academia, the key added value lies in the empirically grounded integration of technical sustainability assessment and social science research into acceptance. This connection not only enables an interdisciplinary examination of ecological gaming models, but also the development of scenarios in which technological innovation, ecological objectives and social gaming practices are considered in an integrated manner.

References

Bashir, N., Donti, P., Cuff, J., Sroka, S., Ilic, M., Sze, V., Delimitrou, C., & Olivetti, E. (2024). The Climate and Sustainability Implications of Generative AI. An MIT Exploration of Generative AI. mit-genai.pubpub.org/pub/8ulgrckc/release/2

Bharadwaj, C. (20 February 2025). How AI in Gaming is Redefining the Future of the Industry. Appinventiv. appinventiv.com/blog/ai-in-gaming/

Cloud Gaming. (n.d.). Berkeley Lab. Retrieved 21 March 2025, from greengaming.lbl.gov/cloud-gaming

Kessel, A. (13 September 2024). The Global Video Game Market Could Soon Approach $500 Billion, New Report Says. Investopedia. www.investopedia.com/global-video-game-market-could-double-in-10-years-report-says-8712136

Möhring, C. (25 November 2021). What is cloud gaming? Tips and tricks. www.heise.de/tipps-tricks/Was-ist-Cloud-Gaming-6276641.html

Mukherjee, S. (28 August 2024). The Future of AI in Game Development | TalentDesk. www.talentdesk.io/blog/the-future-of-ai-in-game-development

Ren, J., & Toniolo, S. (Eds.). (2020). Life cycle sustainability assessment for decision-making: Methodologies and case studies. Elsevier.