Sony Will Plant A Tree When You Progress In This PlayStation Game!

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Sony’s ‘Play and Plant’ Program Will Help To Plant 288,000 Trees

It’s time to grab our controllers and play for the planet, with Sony’s new ‘Play and Plant’ Program! This US-based tree-planting initiative was recently announced with the release of Horizon Forbidden West (Feb 18 2022) — the wildly popular sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn (2017). 

“For the release of Horizon Forbidden West, we want to do something to help nature... With you. Just like how Aloy fights to save the Earth in the game, we can do something together to help our planet,” Sony said re: the ‘Play and Plant’ Program. 

Horizon Forbidden West is an open-world role-playing game developed by Guerilla Games and published by Sony for PS4 and PS5. Horizon Forbidden West is already the second-biggest PS5 launch in the history of the PS5 console.

Image: Play and Plant YouTube Video

Horizon Forbidden West | The Second-Largest PS5 Game Of All Time

Horizon Forbidden West is an open-world role-playing video game centred on Aloy — a strong female protagonist living in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by machines. In this game, the spear and bow-wielding huntress sets out to save the planet from a mysterious environmental plague that kills plants, wildlife and humans. 

Players must control Aloy as she traverses beautiful, rich landscapes in the Forbidden West, which are incredibly realistic! To plant a tree in real life, gamers must reach a certain point in the game to unlock a virtual trophy — “Reached the Daunt”. Sony, in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation, will then plant a tree across the country to help complete 3 different reforestation projects.

Image: Play and Plant / Sony

Reforestation Projects In California, Florida & Wisconsin 

Sony’s ‘Play and Plant’ Program — together with the Arbor Day Foundation — will plant  288,000 trees to complete 3 reforestation projects! An area in Lassen County, California, was chosen due to the deadly ‘Sheep Fire’ that tore through 30,000 acres of land and forest in 2020. Reforesting this area will help local wildlife, like Grey Wolves, to thrive once again. 

Torreya State Park, located in Liberty County, Florida, was chosen due to the decline of the longleaf pine. Restoring 13,000 acres of longleaf pine will increase the area’s resilience to wildfires and restore wildlife species.

278,000 acres of Wisconsin’s Douglas County Forest was chosen to be reforested to improve the forest’s watershed protection abilities and restore native plant and animals.

Image: Play4Forests

‘Play4Forests’ Is Mobilising The Global Gaming Community

‘Play Your Part. Protect Our Forests’. This is the focus of the ‘Play4Forests’ (P4F) campaign; an initiative created by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), UN-REDD and the Playing For The Planet Alliance to raise awareness amongst the global gaming community about the importance of forests for our health and climate. P4F is asking gamers to sign a petition which UNEP will present to world leaders at the next climate summit. Help them to reach 50,000 signatures!

Some of the biggest names in the video game industry, like Sony, have pledged to reduce their emissions, support tree-planting initiatives and reduce plastic in their products as part of their membership with the Playing For The Planet Alliance. Through the Alliance, these companies have the ability to reach and engage more than 1 billion gamers worldwide.