According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), we are in a “now or never” moment against climate change. On the current path, the World can have 3-degree warming in this century. It’s a game over for the World as we know. But it sounds just a number. Greenpeace needs to engage young people, who will be more affected in the future, to join the fight against climate change: signing their petition and donating to the cause. The first goal here was to make them realize the climate-related hazards. Then was to make them act. Of course, the challenge also includes an important goal: preserving Greenpeace’s budget. Their investment has been used to help thousands of Brazilian families affected by recent flooding.

To do that, Greenpeace had to find a way to truly connect with this Gen Z who was not connected with traditional media anymore.

Greenpeace turned the most popular online game today into the most immersive climate change simulator ever. Los Santos, the land of GTA Online, is an immersive replica of Los Angeles. A perfect real-life simulator made with thousands of actual city footage. Many years of unstoppable research and development by Rockstar made GTA the most realistic game nowadays. As GTA Online has online servers with open code, it’s possible to “hack” and change everything. In partnership with their own scientific team, Greenpeace used real future predictions to develop Los Santos +3ºC. An entire metaverse half-underwater, afflicted by heat, drought, air pollution, and a full-blown economic crisis, with climate refugees and many other real challenges. It’s the cross of all information Greenpeace needs to deliver and the entertainment the Gen Z wants to receive. Beyond awareness, players were able to sign the petition and donate inside the game, without interrupting the experience.

The main strategy of Los Santos +3ºC was to connect with Gen Z in a way that not only impacts but also engages. As everyone knows, the gaming world is a great place for this. With the found the possibility to change an entire realistic life-simulator like GTA Online, it became perfect. With this unprecedented idea to cross climate scientific predictions and the GTA gameplay, Greenpeace got the voluntary engagement by a well-known Brazilian GTA servers developer and 50 local top streamers. To launch Los Santos +3ºC, this immersive experience was played and streamed by those gaming influencers for an entire week. Of course, this launch made the entire community start to play and stream it too. The strategy also included a direct way to act. Inside the game, players can sign Greenpeace’s petition and donate to the NGO.

Greenpeace turned the most popular online game today into the most immersive climate change simulator ever. Los Santos, the land of GTA Online, is an immersive replica of Los Angeles. A perfect real-life simulator made with thousands of actual city footage. Many years of unstoppable research and development by Rockstar made GTA the most realistic game nowadays. As GTA Online has online servers with open code, it’s possible to “hack” and change everything. In partnership with their own scientific team, Greenpeace used real future predictions to develop Los Santos +3ºC. An entire metaverse half-underwater, afflicted by heat, drought, air pollution, and a full-blown economic crisis, with climate refugees and many other real challenges. It’s the cross of all information Greenpeace needs to deliver and the entertainment the Gen Z wants to receive. Beyond awareness, players were able to sign the petition and donate inside the game, without interrupting the experience.

Los Santos +3ºC quickly crossed the gaming world. Researchers, teachers, journalists, and many kinds of environmental-related influencers share about this on social networks. Streamers and pro players voluntarily broadcast +450 hours of live stream just in the first week. The gaming community watched almost 8 million minutes of broadcasting. This is impossible without entertainment. In the first week, one in three gamers who interacted with the in-game access to the petition had signed it. An unprecedented conversion rate for Greenpeace. Until today, the community still plays and streams Los Santos +3ºC. Without any Greenpeace investment, the project generated +340% in petition signatures, +40% in donations, and almost 30 million in earned media. Despite big numbers, the key point is immeasurable: Gen Z finally realized all those climate-related hazards. Los Santos +3ºC is more than the most immersive climate change simulator: is the only one that entertains.