Ubisoft has announced that they will eliminate paper game manuals, replacing them with an in-game digital manual for all games on the PC, 360 and PS3. The company insists this is an “environmental initiative”. The first title from the company to receive the new manual-less treatment will be Shaun White Skateboarding this autumn.
According to Ubisoft, their game manuals consume “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”.
They have also taken to releasing their future North American PC titles in 100% recycled polypropylene “ecoTech” DVD cases. The new case will debut with the PC release of Splinter Cell Conviction on April 30th. Digital game manuals have been a part of the company’s distributed titles for the PC since March in North America.
“Ubisoft is often recognized for making great games, but it’s a special privilege to be the industry leader at saving trees,” said Laurent Detoc, president of Ubisoft North America. “Eco-friendly initiatives are important to the global community and introducing in-game digital manuals on Xbox 360 and PS3 is just the latest example of Ubisoft’s ongoing commitment to being a more environmentally conscious company.”
