Physical releases are becoming more and more of a rarity these days, but despite being a far cry from the glory days of big box packaging and console games coming in VHS sized cases, physical games can still be found, more often for consoles, in standard DVD casing.
Sega of Europe however have decided to do their bit for the environment by switching the packaging for all future releases to a new, recyclable cardboard box format, starting with Total War: Rome 2 - Enemy at the Gates Edition.
Based on the image in the tweet below, it still looks pretty nice, in fact, I think I prefer it to a boring old plastic DVD case. Being made of a recyclable material means it's hard to judge until you get hold of it in person, but if it's better for the environment, I'd take that over durability, especially as physical media is becoming less and less necessary.
We're pleased to announce that all of our future physical releases of PC games will be launched in fully recycled packaging!
— SEGA Europe (@SEGA_Europe) January 30, 2020
Total War: ROME II – Enemy at the Gates Edition from Creative Assembly signals our intent to continue with this environmental initiative. pic.twitter.com/SlPcUCikn3
Apparently, the move to recyclable packaging was pushed for by Sports Interactive, who are the developers behind Football Manager 2020. Apparently the new boxes took six months to develop, and cost around 22c per box extra to make.
Of course, the DVD discs inside aren't recyclable, but it does at least mean when it comes time to throw the game out that there's that much less material going to landfill.