In an effort to go green, Ubisoft has announced that they will be replacing paper manuals with in-game digital manuals for all future PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 titles. The program, which the company touts as a first-of-its-kind initiative, launches worldwide with Shaun White Skateboarding this holiday 2010. It is being announced during the same week as Earth Day. Clearly, though, the tough economy had to factor into the company’s decision as digital manuals could potentially cut expenses.
Ubisoft says that the effort will “provide gamers with a more robust manual.” According to them, internal data shows that producing one ton of paper used in Ubisoft’s game manuals consumes an average of two tons of wood from 13 trees, with a net energy of 28 million BTU’s (equivalent to average heating and energy for one home/year), greenhouse gases equivalent of over 6,000 lbs of CO2, and wastewater of almost 15,000 gallons.
In addition to Ubisoft’s new digital manual policy, Ubisoft has partnered with Technimark to release the industry’s most environmentally-friendly DVD case for all of its future PC titles in North America. The 100 percent-recycled polypropylene “ecoTech” DVD case will make its debut with Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction
