PUBG Mobile is taking action against climate change with a new Play for Green initiative, one that lets players battle it out on a version of the game’s iconic Erangel map ravaged by climate change.
The map is a collaboration between PUBG Mobile developers Lightspeed Studios and Krafton in conjunction with University College London professor Mark Maslin, who has written multiple books on the dangers of climate change. Using Maslin’s research, the PUBG Mobile development team reimagined what the ruins of Erangel would look like 100 years from now given the current rate of climate change if no further action is taken. That translated into Erangel becoming an apocalyptic hellscape, one plagued by sandstorms, drought, and largely devoid of plant life.
For those who want to explore the map themselves, there’s two modes featuring the climate-ravaged Ruins of Erangel. One, Ruins of Erangel: Sandstorm is the battle royale experience PUBG players are familiar with, as players struggle to survive against not only sandstorms but other players. Ruins of Erangel: Exploration is a narrative version of the map that guides players through the progressive effects of climate change to the map’s environment.
It’s all in conjunction with a new “Run for Green” in-game challenge going from September 11-24. During that time, the game will keep track of the distance the PUBG Mobile community runs in-game, with progress contributing towards milestones that will help aid projects looking to preserve natural environments in Brazil, Indonesia, and Pakistan. Players will also unlock in-game customization items and a special garden in the game’s Home mode that can be outfitted with endangered trees and plants by progressing the Run for Green campaign.
Endangered California Redwood and Giant Baobab trees are additionally being added for use in the game’s creative World of Wonder. Creative-minded players who create variants of the climate-change ravaged Ruins of Erangel map using the new items will have their work judged by the PUBG Mobile team and be eligible to win a share of a $12,500 prize pool. If players collectively play the official new Play for Green map or user-created ones 10 million times, the PUBG Mobile team will double their contribution to the environmental projects chosen as part of the campaign.
The event is part of the Playing for the Planet initiative, an alliance of video game companies pledging to help reduce the environmental impact of the video game industry and supported by the United Nations Environment Programme. Both Xbox and Sony are members of the initiative, with Xbox testing the creation of carbon neutral consoles. According to a global survey of PUBG: Mobile players earlier this year, 88% of players who participated were concerned about climate change, with an even larger percentage stating they have already experienced the effects of climate change in their country.
Vincent Wang, head of PUBG Mobile publishing at Tencent Games, said in a press release that the power of gaming can be used to help address one of the biggest challenges of our time.
“With initiatives like the Ruins of Erangel maps and the Run for Green event, we’re not just creating immersive content for our players–we’re inspiring a global community to take real-world action,” Wang said.
The Play for Green initiative is just the latest event to come to PUBG Mobile. A limited-time event last year added dinosaurs to the battle royale, and the mobile game is no stranger to collaborations with other franchises, including anime Dragon Ball Super and Spy x Family.
