All Sega’s PC games will be fully recycled and recyclable, the company has announced. Starting with Total War: Rome II – Enemy at the Gates Edition, which launches on February 6, Sega Europe’s PC game boxes will be made using recycled materials and can be recycled themselves once they reach the end of their useable lives.
This applies to every game from Sega Europe’s roster of studios, including Relic, Two Point, Sports Interactive, Creative Assembly and, Amplitude. Sega America’s games are digital only on PC.
Boxes will be made from cardboard and the shrink wrapping from low-density polyethylene, while the printing process will utilise water and vegetable inks. The only exception is the disc, which is recyclable via specialists. Sega says the decision to move to recycled and recyclable packaging will cost the company more money – however, this cost is “in part offset by cheaper distribution – lighter packaging means lower fuel costs and cheaper destruction costs as the package can be fully recycled.” The company also says the money lost is “a price worth paying to help secure the planet’s future”.
Sega previously trialled the move with the launch of Football Manager 2020 but has now decided to roll it out to all its future titles.
“This initiative underlines SEGA Europe’s commitment to reducing its plastic waste and its ongoing efforts to implement environmentally friendly business practices,” said Gary Dale, President/COO of SEGA Europe. “Our estimations with regards to Football Manager 2020 suggested we’d save up to 20 tonnes of plastic packaging for that title alone, so taking this step for the rest of our PC portfolio would see that saving rise exponentially.
“We’d like to reiterate Miles’ [Jacobson, studio head of Sports Interactive] plea from September 2019 to the entertainment industries to investigate similar packaging solutions, across movies, games and music so we can collectively observe a drastic reduction in the production of plastic packaging and its associated waste and pollution, over the coming years.”