Outright Games responsible business
Protecting Our Customers
Outright Games is a leading global publisher of family and children’s video games, and we take a front-line role in helping to ensure children are playing age-appropriate video games and promoting healthy gaming habits.
What we are doing:
- Having the right content for the right age demographic is the core focus of what we do. Our presence in the marketplace means that children from age 3 to 12 years have a selection of fun, safe and suitable games for their age.
- All our games are age rated or classified for suitability. Each country or geographical area where the game is being purchased has a governing body responsible for assigning the age rating or classification. Through these bodies we help parents and consumers alike make an informed choice as to which games are suitable for their child.
- Help and advice is available for parents and caregivers who want to better understand healthy and safe gaming practices for their children, such as controlling screen time. Launched by UK Interactive Entertainment (Ukie), the trade body for the UK games industry, the Get Smart About P.L.A.Y campaign provides parents and caregivers with a four-step process to help set parameters around play:
P – Play with your kids. Discover amazing games and understand what they play and why.
L – Learn about family controls for your console.
A – Ask what your kids think. Discuss ground rules before setting restrictions.
Y – You’re in charge. Set restrictions that work for your family.
Click here to access advice.
Using Influence Responsibly
We have sold millions of games globally in up to 18 languages. Our games are created using licensed brands that are favourites among children the world over. The instantly recognisable and lovable characters in our games engage a child’s interest which can be influential. With this comes a responsibility to convey the right messages to the next generation and raise awareness on social and environmental issues.
What we are doing:
Past and future titles published by Outright Games include educational messaging around the following topics:
- Environmental awareness
- Games supporting health and wellness
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Social values
We continue to explore product innovations which promote a healthy approach to gaming.
- For example, we successfully experimented with a screen time related feature in our pre-school game, ‘My Friend Peppa Pig’. Parents and carers can set a time limit from 5 minutes to 20 minutes. When the time is up, Peppa goes to sleep and the game cannot be continued until it is re-set.
Environmental Responsibility
Fundamental to being a responsible business is to work within an environmentally sustainable model, which is why it is necessary to assess the impact a business has on the planet to enable positive change.
What we are doing:
- We comply with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Recycling Regulations 2013 (WEEE) and report our packaging waste to The National Packaging Waste Database, both supported by the Environment Agency.
- We are members of Products of Change, an online community hub aimed at driving sustainable change across consumer product markets and beyond. We are actively investigating where changes can be made to make our business “greener.”
- We are tracking and measuring our current emissions to better understand our carbon footprint with the aim of making a reduction across the business in the next 18 months.
- The latest climate science from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says urgent climate action is required, if we are to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 °C.
1. We are measuring our emissions. We believe that taking a science-based approach is critical, which is why we measure our emissions using the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol, a globally recognised standard.
2. We have set a reduction target. The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a global body enabling businesses to set ambitious emissions reductions targets in line with the latest climate science. It is focused on accelerating companies across the world to halve emissions before 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions before 2050. The SBTi has approved Outright Games’ near-term science-based emissions reduction target. Our target is to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 42% by 2030 against our 2021 baseline year. We also commit to measuring and reducing our Scope 3 emissions.
Our Commitment to the Global and Local Communities
Outright Games supports many local and global charity initiatives and is always looking for ways to give back to the communities touched by its titles.
What we are doing:
- Stephanie Malham, COO is patron to games industry charity Safe in our World which supports mental health awareness. We regularly donate games to the charity and more recently, we have donated over 10,000 digital codes. The proceeds of which went to supporting the growth of the charity.
- Outright Games is proud sponsor of Digital Schoolhouse, a programme reaching 52 schools which delivers a unique approach to play-based learning to engage pupils and teachers with computing. Digital Schoolhouse created the ever-popular Esports tournaments and our very own Race With Ryan was played to compete in Junior Esports.
- In April 2020, when hospitals were overstretched due to Covid-19 and NHS workers were away from their families for long periods, we took part in Games for Carers. We were pleased to provide free video game downloads for NHS staff and their families.
- In 2023, we partnered with the leading global children’s charity Unicef and have committed to raising money for the Core Resources for Results fund which can be used flexibly to achieve the greatest impact for children.
Other sponsorships include:
Supplier Stewardship
We are committed to being a responsible business, adhering to our social, ethical, and environmental obligations and striving to make a difference. To truly make an impact, this commitment is needed throughout our supply chain.
What we are doing:
- Outright Games has created a Business Code of Ethics for Suppliers which states our expected minimum levels of standard required from our suppliers and partners. Some of our suppliers will already have their own Code, particularly larger companies such as Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Apple. Where already in place, we review external ethics code for appropriateness and we ask other businesses to affirm their compliance of our Code on an annual basis.
- Our Business Code of Ethics for Suppliers covers key areas including protecting payment of minimum wages, environmental protections, ensuring child labour is not used, safe and hygienic working conditions and anti-discrimination practices among many other crucial foundations of an ethical business. The full document can be found here.
- We seek to ensure there are no human rights violations, child labour, environmental issues or poor working conditions in the supply chain. Significant suppliers will be subjected to regular quality assurance, environment and human rights reviews or audits.
