Power-Saving Mode

Add an” Eco mode” in console or games settings to save power.

Detailed graphics settings have long been the standard in PC games, but today even console games tend to give player the choice between Performance mode (2K resolution at 60FPS) or Resolution mode: (4K resolution at 30 FPS).

We can easily include a third mode labelled “Power Saving” or “Eco”, with a simple 2K resolution locked at 30FPS – or lower, if it makes sense for the game. You can improve the setting’s visibility by making it the default choice upon booting the game – also ensuring that players who don’t care about fiddling with settings (ie the majority) end up wasting less electricity.

With millions of players, even if only a fraction of them uses this feature it is already a meaningful saving. It is also a small step for players to strengthen their perception of themselves as participating in fighting the climate crisis.

Sky: Children of the Light does something this in their options menu:

For Honor (patch 2.51.0, released on 25th April 2024) introduced a flexible approach to the matter, with four different ECO modes:

Pro tip:
Keep in mind that most players won’t access the options menu, so the most important decision may be which setting you as a developer chooses as the default option. Do you have the kind of audience that is passionate about graphical fidelity? Chances are, most players probably won’t even notice if you lower the quality, so you may get away with setting power-saving as default and letting advanced players know they can go into options and choose a more high-octane experience.