A new study has shed light on the environmental impact of digital games, claiming that the downloadable games are actually worse for the environment than their physical counterparts.
Released in the Journal of Industrial Ecology, the study mainly focuses on the impact of PlayStation 3 games released in 2010.
The researchers found that the PS3 games that have a file size of over 1.3GB use more energy to download than it would take to actually just make a physical disc.However, games that have a file size of under 1.3GB use a smaller amount of energy if downloaded as a digital title as opposed to making a physical disc.
The study does note that since it took place in 2010, some of its findings may not necessarily apply to 2014 downloadable titles, although the researchers are not sure if it makes a difference.
Will this report make you think twice about downloading a digital game? Let us know in the comments!
[Source: Journal of Industrial Ecology via MCV]
