The Arbor Day Foundation and PlayStation Partner to Plant Trees Via New Video Game, Horizon Forbidden West

LINCOLN, Nebraska (February 15, 2022) – The Arbor Day Foundation and PlayStation partner to plant up to 288,000 trees in the spring of 2022, to help complete three major reforestation projects across the U.S. Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is inviting its PlayStation community to play an active role in achieving this goal through its upcoming video game, Horizon Forbidden West.

Horizon Forbidden West is an action-adventure game where players explore a post-apocalyptic Earth to find a way to save the world and humanity from extinction. Players must navigate through natural settings such as meadows, mountains, oceans, and forests, which are all ecosystems that depend on the existence of trees. Each time a player unlocks the “Reached the Daunt” in-game trophy, the Arbor Day Foundation will plant a tree in a real-world forest.

“We are thrilled to partner with PlayStation on such a unique and highly-interactive project,” said Dan Lambe, Chief Executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. “This kind of work allows us to demonstrate the high-level cooperation that is required to create positive change for our environment. By engaging players and fans, PlayStation has created a virtual experience that will generate real world impact.”

For the past 50 years, the Arbor Day Foundation has worked to plant nearly 500 million trees around the world. Through a vast network of partnerships, the Foundation facilitates projects that empower organizations of all sizes to reach their environmental and sustainability goals via measurable, impactful work.

“We are excited to contribute to the reforestation projects with the Arbor Day Foundation, and to do it alongside our PlayStation community makes each tree that goes into the ground more meaningful,” said Professor Kieren Mayers, Senior Director Environment, Social, and Governance at Sony Interactive Entertainment. “We hope to raise awareness about the importance of preserving nature and biodiversity through in-game content, so we can preserve forests in the natural world for generations to come.”

Each time a player unlocks the in-game trophy, a tree will be planted in one of three at-risk forests identified by the Arbor Day Foundation. Lassen County, California, is in need of reforestation efforts following the 2020 Sheep Fire that spanned nearly 30,000 acres. Torreya State Park in Liberty County, Florida, contains a large population of longleaf pine trees which has seen decline due to hundreds of years of deforestation. In Wisconsin, efforts to restore parts of the Douglas County Forest are increasingly important to preserve habitats for rare wildlife species throughout the area.

This program is supported by Play4Forests, a UN Environment Programme and UN-REDD initiative, as part of the Playing for the Planet Alliance. The Play4Forests campaign focuses on the gaming community and aims to raise awareness about the importance of forests for our environment and health and stir world leaders to take decisive action on forest protection and restoration. Play your part to protect our forests and sign the Play4Forest pledge.

About the Arbor Day Foundation

Founded in 1972, the Arbor Day Foundation has grown to become the largest nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees, with more than one million members, supporters and valued partners. Since 1972, almost 500 million Arbor Day Foundation trees have been planted in neighborhoods, communities, cities and forests throughout the world. Our vision is to lead toward a world where trees are used to solve issues critical to survival.  

As one of the world's largest operating conservation foundations, the Arbor Day Foundation, through its members, partners and programs, educates and engages stakeholders and communities across the globe to involve themselves in its mission of planting, nurturing and celebrating trees. More information is available at arborday.org.

About Sony Interactive Entertainment

Recognized as a global leader in interactive and digital entertainment, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is responsible for the PlayStation® brand and family of products and services. PlayStation has delivered innovation to the market since the launch of the original PlayStation in Japan in 1994. The PlayStation family of products and services include PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, PlayStation®VR, PlayStation™Store, PlayStation®Plus, PlayStation™Now, and acclaimed PlayStation software titles from PlayStation Studios. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, SIE is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation and has global functions in California, London and Tokyo.

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