Ubisoft ditches paper manuals in green effort

Ubisoft said today it's to drop paper manuals on all 360 and PS3 games in an effort to be more "environment-friendly". And to save some money, probably.

Shaun White Skateboarding will be the first game to benefit from the "initiative" this autumn.

All instructions are to be supplied in-game from now on via "digital game manuals".

Why? "Ubisoft 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," said the company in a statement.

“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," said Laurent Detoc, president of Ubisoft North America.

Right on, Laurent. Now, maybe you should stop printing discs altogether?