GTA Online, the well-known game's multiplayer mode, lets many players engage in a variety of different competitive and cooperative modes. Like battle royale, races, or deathmatch.

In Los Santos +3°C, the entertainment had changed. The goal was to face climate change: try to survive all the climate-related hazards and make all the exclusive missions as fast as you can.

Of course, all of those challenges were based on scientific predictions.

With the crossover of science and entertainment, pro players, streamers, and the gaming community engage with climate change effects in an unprecedented way. Not only seeing it but living it.

According to the IPCC, we are in a “now or never” moment against climate change. On the current path, the World can have 3-degree warming even 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 +3°C. 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 +3°C was to connect with Gen Z through gaming and eSports culture.

As everyone knows, this virtual world is a great place to engage them. With the found the possibility to redesign an entire metaverse like GTA Online, it became perfect.

To launch Los Santos +3°C, Greenpeace invited Brazilian top streamers and pro players. Not only who plays GTA but other games like Counter-Strike, Fortnite, and LOL. Including big names of Brazilian eSport like NAK (2x World Champion of CS:GO) and KALERA (the only Brazilian pro player with an honor charm from Rainbow Six).

Voluntarily, they broadcasted the immersive experience 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.

Everything started with the Greenpeace scientific team. They traced every consequence of 3-degree warming in Los Angeles. Those predictions guided the next four months of coding and modding by the development company.

It included thousands of objects modification, hundreds of new NPCs, custom artworks, uncountable affected tourist spots, many different playable missions, an OOH strategy, and a full-scale radio station. They also created an innovative way for players to sign petitions and donate inside the game.

After the development, a trailer was released and the community went crazy.

The official launch was a one-week live stream event with Brazilian top pro players and streamers. Fastly, their millions of followers engaged with the immersive experience.

Los Santos +3°C has no borders. It can be played by anyone who has GTA Online. With the streams and gamer-generated content, the campaign reached millions.

Los Santos +3°C fastly crossed the gaming world. Researchers, teachers, journalists, and many kinds of environmental-related people share about this on social networks.

Streamers and pro players voluntarily broadcasted +450 hours of live stream just in the first week. The 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 +3°C.

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 +3°C is more than the most immersive climate change simulator: is the only one that entertains.