“The time for taking drastic action is now and it starts with all of us”

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In an industry that is full of games striving to achieve success, CEO and founder of TreesPlease, Laura Carter, has her own goals of building games that can be both fun and impactful.

That includes games such as Longleaf Valley, a casual mobile title that has already helped to plant over 2.3 million trees.

“I’ve always been deeply passionate about nature and the environment,” says Carter.

That passion has been evident even in childhood. Carter explains that she would give her pocket money to Greenpeace and sell her toys to raise funds for animal charities. Becoming a mother was something that only fuelled her motivations even further. 

“After having children, my motivation to protect nature and the planet only grew, for their future as well,” she explains. “I realised that combining my to save nature and the planet with my passion for games would allow me to reach a far vaster audience for the cause.”

With that, TreesPlease was born. Its mission is a simple but notable one. To mobilise players to protect nature and fight climate change every time they play. 

Playing and planting 

Longleaf Valley, the studio’s debut title, is a world builder with a climate focus at its core. As players progress, they can earn tokens that directly fund the planting of real trees. 

“Our aim is to make it as easy as possible for players to have a real-world impact,” Carter explains. “Players don’t need to spend any money to plant, though in-game spending will speed and increase their impact.”

It’s a game cycle with real-world impacts that are already measurable, with 2.3 million trees planted so far, which is the equivalent of over 47,000 tonnes of carbon sequesters, with the potential to rise to 500,000 tonnes over the next decade. 

“One of the biggest tragedies of deforestation is the destruction of ecosystems and subsequent species loss and extinction,” she says. “By restoring forests, we’re also helping to heal these delicate systems.”

Games as a platform for change

Creating a climate-conscious game with a good cause at its heart hasn’t been without its challenges.

“One of the biggest challenges is balancing the fun and relaxation that players expect when playing a casual mobile game, with the real-world impact that is fundamental to our ethos,” says Carter. “We don’t want to disrupt players’ downtime with heavy themes, but we also need to ensure the message and impact isn’t diluted.”

That balance also extends to the studio’s transparency.

“We face scepticism around the tree planting feature, as many players are wary of scams. We validate our contributions through trusted tree-planting partners, but we plan to do more. Bringing real-time updates from planting efforts and shifting towards showing rather than telling.”

Carter shares how the power of games lies within their reach and how they can spread a message about change without preaching to people. 

“Most people care about nature and the planet but feel helpless or don’t know how to help,” she says. “We make it easy and accessible to be impactful by integrating real-world impact directly into gameplay, removing the barrier to action.”

Carter emphasises that awareness is key. “The biggest yet least discussed driver of deforestation is the meat industry. Yet many people remain unaware of this, as mainstream discussions and even charities often shy away from addressing the connection between diet and deforestation and climate.”

Through games, Carter feels there is a great opportunity to raise awareness on such issues without alienating players.

“Games provide a unique opportunity to present these issues in an engaging, non-confrontational way. Sparking curiosity, shifting perspectives, and ultimately empowering players to make more informed choices.

“Without awareness, real change is impossible, and that’s why gaming can be such a powerful force for environmental action.”

Industry outlook

The games industry overall is beginning to wake up and answer to some of its environmental responsibilities. Other groups hope to create a more environmentally friendly world, such as not-for-profit PlanetPlay, where players can support environmental initiatives by purchasing games from its store.

While some are striving for change, there is still much work to be done.

“There’s a growing appetite for impact, though I do believe we can set the bar even higher,” Carter says. “Too often, efforts focus on minor, surface-level changes rather than tackling the real environmental threats.”

Carter points out that leading drivers of climate issues, such as industrial animal agriculture, are often overlooked. Even though deforestation can largely be attributed to animal farming and most ocean plastic pollution stems from discarded fishing nets rather than consumer waste, both of these issues remain largely unspoken when discussing environmental concerns.

Carter also doesn’t hold back on calling out some of the games industry’s areas for improvement.

“I’ve attended two green gaming events this year where red meat was served, with almost no vegan options,” she says. “Given that beef production is the worst offending food item when it comes to climate-killing emissions, it’s akin to driving diesel trucks or private jets to a sustainability conference.”

Carter has a clear message for the industry: “The time for taking drastic action is now, and it starts with all of us.”

Advice and technological change

We asked Carter what developers who want to make a difference should think about.

“There are a few core principles,” she says.”One, prioritise real issues, not token gestures. Two, impact doesn’t have to come from in-game features alone. Third, align gameplay with the values you want to promote.”

Carter explains that driving impact doesn’t just have to be about the environment, and that it also extends to social responsibilities.

“I’d love to see more games with male protagonists expressing emotion and vulnerability, rather than violence,” she states. “We desperately need to see developers and law enforcement tackling online safety issues more seriously.”

There are also many technological changes happening right now, something which Carter remains both optimistic and cautious about in terms of its role in sustainability. 

“AI is the unavoidable talking point in gaming and beyond right now,” she says. “In theory, AI-driven content creation could reduce development time, therefore lowering the need for computing power and energy use. However, AI is incredibly resource-intensive in its current form, making its true sustainability impact questionable.

“If we can develop more energy-efficient AI models, it could be a game changer.”

Hardware sustainability is another area of environmental impact.

“While the console market has made commitments, there’s still room for improvement,” Carter points out. “I’d love to see mobile, console and PC hardware providers commit to using only recycled or refurbished hardware as a bold industry statement.”

Carter also praises Apple’s move to eliminate leather from its product lines, calling it an “incredibly unsustainable product that now has sustainable synthetic or organic alternatives”.

Speaking on the issue of carbon emissions in the games industry, Carter explains that one of the biggest challenges is the lack of accurate, widely adopted tools for players and developers to track their environmental impact.

“Right now, we’re in the dark about gaming’s true footprint, and that’s a big gap I’d love to see plugged,” she says. The Sustainable Games Alliance is currently putting together a standard for reporting on the industry’s environmental impact to tackle this very issue.

Future vision

Looking forward, Carter is focused on scaling what has already been achieved.

“We’re incredibly proud of having planted 2.3 million trees, but we’re thinking much bigger, we want to plant 50 million,” she says. “And beyond planting new trees, we’ll also be supporting other charities within the nature and environment space.”

Soon, Longleaf Valley will launch a new ocean-themed partnership, which allows players to support endangered marine species. Behind the scenes, the TreesPlease team is also working on its second title. 

“We can’t share too much just yet,” Carter teases. “But it’s a natural continuation of our mission to create fun engaging games that also create real-world positive change.”